Kolkata, May 22: West Bengal Minister for Minority Development and Welfare, MD Salim resigned from his post following his election to the Lok Sabha from the Calcutta North East seat. Salim's portfolios, which also include self-employment, youth services and technical education, would now be looked after by Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee. "For now, I will look after the departments myself. As a minister, Salim has done a good job. I will miss him badly. He has won a prestigious Lok Sabha seat and I wish him well for his tenure in Parliament," Bhattacharjee said.
Asked whether he was feeling nostalgic on leaving the state for Parliament, Salim, who was a Rajya Sabha member for 11 years, said, "I don't go by emotions. I like to work and I will continue to work for the people." Salim defeated former Union Minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader Ajit Panja by over 73,000 votes from Calcutta North East constituency, from where cine-star Mousumi Chatterjee also fought on a Congress ticket. Bureau Report