Suvendu Adhikari penned a moving letter today addressing his colleagues in the Trinamool Congress amid speculations that he was set to join the BJP after resigning from party posts. In the letter, he announced that he had resigned from the membership of the Trinamool Congress. He also appealed to those disgruntled in the party to join him in his future course of action.
The letter is filled with emotive language and emphasizes on the necessity of building a West Bengal which their ‘ancestors’ would be proud of. The letter has been produced in full below:
“Our great and beloved State of West Bengal is standing at a critical juncture today. As we head to the 2021 elections, We the People of West Bengal are destined to make a choice, which will significantly impact us forever. In the same vein, the time has come today for me to make a decision as to my next course of action. I am blessed to have turned 50 years old a few days ago, and some may say that it has marked the start of a new innings for me.
As I undertake this journey for the next innings of my life, I cannot help but reminisce about the years gone by. I have had the high honour and distinct privilege of serving the people of my State, the great State of West Bengal, for the better part of 3 decades now. Right from my days in College, my fellow Citizens have entrusted me with the responsibility of serving them through thick and thin, and I have done so with great humility and pleasure, always placing their interests above my own.
Throughout the course of my career, I have been fortunate to have been repeatedly chosen by the People to be of service to them, and it was only because of this endless and endearing love that I reached the pinnacle of success, having been given the high honour of serving my People as a Cabinet Minister in a Government elected by them.
Throughout my political career, the single common denominator of any and all decisions I have taken is whether I have been able to be of service to my fellow Citizens to the best of my abilities. However, one common thread which has remained the same throughout my political career has been our shared ideals of continuously trying to create a better society.
When our battle was against the Left Front, the main contention was the anti-poor and anti-people policy of the Comnmunist Government. I had the honour of serving my People in a significant manner during the Nandigram Agitation through the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, where our main fight was not against any particular individual, but against the system being unleashed by such individuals who were determined to cause hardships to poor and landless peasants who had very little to their name.
It was with great hope and belief that We the People democratically overthrew the Communist Government, and peacefully elected a new Government in its place. A Government which we thought would preserve and protect our interests. A Government which we thought would deliver upon our shared goal, that of creating a West Bengal of our Dreams.
That of creating a West Bengal our ancestors would be proud of. That of creating a West Bengal which our freedom fighters could smile upon with pride through the shining gates of heaven. That of creating a West Bengal which we could handover to the next generation with great pride and happiness. That of creating a West Bengal which would truly live up to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur’s words: Amar Sonar Bangla.
Ten years have elapsed in the interim. While a decade has gone by, the problems faced by our fellow sisters and brothers remains the same. In fact, regrettably, in some cases, it has become worse. But stagnation is also not the most critical problem. It can usually be easily fixed by getting the governance infrastructure in order. Regrettably, that is where we are failing. An extremely deep rot and malaise has set in to the Trinamool Congress. The very Party we once fought for shoulder to shoulder.
Neither West Bengal and nor the Trinamool Congress is anyone’s fiefdom. West Bengal is the great land of valiant legends, who have moved heaven and earth to fight for their freedom, for their Maa, for their Mati, and for their Manush. This State for which we feel such never-ending pride is the creation of innumerable legends, who have poured constant and continuous hard work and toil. The State’s great Sons and Daughters have unflinchingly sacrificed their all for the hope and dream of a better future. Brothers and Sisters, I am conscious of the fact that this land is nothing but the result of their blood, sweat, and tears.
Much like the great Sons and Daughters of West Bengal, who espoused the old Vedic concept of Nishkam Karma Yog, the concept of selfless and desireless action, an action performed without any expectation of fruits or results, my Fellow Members of the Trinamool Congress have also built this Party brick by brick over the course of more than 2 decades. I have had the distinct privilege of working side by side with many such ordinary Members, who selflessly worked towards our shared goal of building a West Bengal of our dreams, without any expectation, I am conscious that it is these very People on the backs of whom we have managed to create such a strong Party. It is on the backs of these very People that we launched our agitation more than 10 years ago, and pledged to serve our Maa, Mati, and Manush.
It is also important to state that anyone else who even remotely believes otherwise has no idea of the truth. The Party was not built in 1 day with the contribution of 1 person. It was a continuous and continuous effort on a mammoth scale, the culmination of which was the result we saw 10 years ago.
It is therefore especially painful, that the individuals currently in charge of the Party are treating it like their personal fiefdom. The very people on the backs of whom the Party was created are now being sidelined, humiliated, and outcast. In their stead, the individuals have now hired external assistance, people with no knowledge of ground realities, and no knowledge of the sacrifice it actually takes to work for a shared goal as ambitious as creating the West Bengal of our dreams.
Instead of “Nishkam Karma Yogis”, the ordinary people who built this party brick by brick selflessly without any desires, the Party we worked so hard to build is now filled with “Sakam Karma Bhogis”. Individuals who have no bother about anyone but themselves. Individuals who will take compensation for their services, and disappear as soon as the elections conclude. Individuals who do not have it in them to work selflessly. Individuals whose only question is what they will get and when they will get it. The concept of “Tyaag” espoused by Members like us has been replaced with the concept of “Bhog” by the individuals who are now in charge.
It is only and only in the light of the above that we have come to a time for choosing. West Bengal stands at a critical juncture today. This is a time for choosing for the People of West Bengal. This is a time for choosing for you, the ordinary grassroot member of the party. And certainly, this is a time for choosing for me, and once again I have to make a decision keeping in mind how I can best serve the People of my great State.
It is therefore my duty to inform my fellow Members of the Party that I have made a choice. I have made a choice to work towards our shared goal of building a West Bengal of our dreams, a West Bengal our ancestors would be proud of. Our great State of West Bengal has the honour of saying that our Soil is the birthplace of innumerable luminaries, so shouldn’t our shared objective be to build a West Bengal they would be proud of?
A West Bengal dreamt by illustrious legends such as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand, Sri Aurobindo, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Bipin Chandra Pal, Khudiram Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Bidhan Chandra Roy. By so many others before them. Andd by so many others who have followed them. Surely, that can be our only goal and objective.
My dearest brothers and sisters. Our responsibility is way more than what can be put into words. As Netaji said, no real change in history has ever been achieved by discussion. My friends, it is now time to take action. I know that history will not judge me kindly if I sit idly by and not raise my voice. I know that you will not forgive me if I leave your side when you need me the most. And I know for a fact that if I claim to be neutral in situations of injustice, I have chosen the side of the oppressor.
Therefore, my dearest brothers and sisters, I have decided to resign from the primary membership of my current political party, the All India Trinamool Congress, with immediate effect.
I have taken this decision because the very Party which we worked to establish through our blood, sweat and tears, has now betrayed our very ideals. The Party has now betrayed the mandate it was given by We The People. Instead of focusing on the all-round development of the State and the country, we are now seeing a situation in which the sole agenda is the enrichment of few particular individuals and their families.
They are now working against Bengali culture while claiming to defend it. They are now working against Bengali ideals while claiming to promote it. They claim to uphold and hold dear to their hearts the life and teachings of our ancestors, but in reality they believe in a use and throw culture. They have treated our sacred Constitution with the same disrespect. They have tried their level best to convert our great State into their personal fiefdom. But our great People have valiantly resisted. And the time has now come to fight for our ideals once again.
The Constitutional Head of our State, the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal, has over the past 18 months brought to public attention more than 100 instances of a total break-down in the law and order situation. Political murders are continuing unabated. Illegal activities are continuing without pause. The sole objective of the Party our people elected has now become to mislead, oppress, threaten, and loot, all while claiming to be defending the Constitution.
After sincere and thought-provoking reflections, I had decided to resign from all Government positions that I had earned trough selfless hard work in order to lodge my protest on the way our great State was being run. But now, the time has come to pick up the gauntlet, and fight alongside our great People and take these individuals to task. Let it be known to them that We The People cannot be fooled. Belated attempts such as Duare Sarkar which were only conceptualized 10 years after being in power, cannot placate our great People.
Our fight is bigger than any individual. Our fight is for a better future. Our fight is to restore West Bengal to its former glory.
To those Members of the Party who are feeling a little disappointed at my departure, I must say to you that I have not left the Trinamool. I am the same person who continues to believe in and fight for the same ideals that I have been fighting for over the last 3 decades. It is Trinamool who has left its ideals behind in its relentless pursuit of power instead of service. I cannot in good conscience associate myself with any group which does not share the same ideals as me.
I am sure that it is now clear to you, too, my Fellow Members, that we cannot betray our ideals in the false hope that those who have brought us into this situation will get us out of it. In your heart of hearts, you know what is right. Our brains may still want to give them another chance, hoping against hope that everything will be alright. In times of such confusion, we should refer ourselves to our great Saints. Swami Vivekananda once said that in a conflict between the heart and the brain, one should follow his heart.
The time has come once again when we should follow our hearts. I know many of you already feel the same way, but are afraid to step forward. I hope that my decision will allow you to make yours. We should never forget that we are the People of this great State, whose another learned son Rabindranath Thakur guided us in what we should do in such situations.
Let us once again strive to uphold the very same ideals and undertake a new journey, together. Let us reject those who seek to divide us between insiders and outsiders, and be inspired by the writings of legends such as Atul Prasad Sen. Let us forget our differences.
Finally, let us not forget, that our end goal is to work for our Nation. A developed Village, a developed District, a developed State, and a developed Nation, That is our only agenda.
I have full faith in our Constitution and our Election Commission of India. West Bengal will witness for the first time in its history truly independent elections, in which people will be able to celebrate the Festival of Democracy, and exercise their constitutional and democratic right to vote.
The time is now. I am going to take a few steps which everyone is going to hear about. I hope you join me. Our shared goal remains the same.“
The steps that Suvendu Adhikari is likely to be his joining the BJP in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah. TMC is in the grips of a major rebellion with members submitting their resignation left, right and center.
Note: Some text in Bangla quoting Bengali stalwarts have been removed
