TMC asks West Bengal Jails Minister Akhil Giri to resign; he says will comply but not apologise to woman forest officer  

Kolkata, August 4

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday asked West Bengal Jails Minister Akhil Giri to resign and apologise to a woman officer of the state forest department following a controversy over video clips showing him threatening and verbally abusing her.

Speaking to reporters at Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district, Giri said he would resign but not apologise.

Giri, who is the MLA of Ramnagar within which the area is situated, was flanked by locals when he was seen in videos threatening forest ranger Manisha Sahu, warning her of reducing her tenure after she and her team removed encroachments on forest department land near Tajpur beach.

“Following party instructions, state president Subrata Bakshi called Akhil Giri on Sunday afternoon, instructing him to apologise to the woman officer and submit his resignation immediately,” TMC spokesperson Shantanu Sen said.

Giri said there was “no question of apologising to any official,” but he regretted his remarks made in an agitated state on Saturday. “I will email my resignation tonight and hand it over personally to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tomorrow in the Assembly,” he added.

Another TMC spokesperson Jaiprakash Majumdar emphasised that the party does not tolerate such behaviour from its members and acknowledged that Giri’s outburst had somewhat tarnished the party’s image.

Incidentally, two years ago in 2022, Giri’s controversial remarks about President Droupadi Murmu were severely criticised. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had to apologise for Giri’s “derogatory remark” after a massive uproar by the Opposition.