WB Cong chief resigns, party turns it down

Kolkata, July 9

Joining the list of Congress leaders quitting party posts, Somen Mitra today resigned as West Bengal Congress president, taking responsibility for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. The resignation, however, has been turned down by the party.

A press statement issued by WBPCC communication cell chief Amitabha Chakraborti said Mitra, appointed PCC chief only five months before the Lok Sabha elections, wanted to resign soon after the Lok Sabha election results were announced on May 23 with Congress winning only two seats in West Bengal, two less from the four (out of the total 42 seats in the state) it won in 2014.

However, after requests from his party colleagues, Mitra withheld his plan and decided to carry on as WBPCC president. But, following Rahul Gandhi’s decision to quit from the party president’s post, Mitra also sent in his resignation letter to the AICC.

When Gaurav Gogoi, the party’s West Bengal unit incharge, heard about the resignation, he met Mitra in Delhi and persuaded him to carry on as the PCC chief and urged him to work with renewed vigour. Gogoi told Mitra that the Congress Working Committee would soon meet and take a decision on the Congress president issue. This would be followed by steps with regard to the state units, Gogoi said and urged Mitra to wait till then. The AICC also refused to accept Mitra’s resignation. — TNS