Kabir Suman not to resign

Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman Wednesday said he would not resign from the Lok Sabha or the party for the time being in deference to his mentor and writer Mahasweta Devi’s wishes, but said Mamata Banerjee was not the “leader of my conscience”.

“I am not resigning now. My mentor and leader Mahesweta Devi has ordered me not to resign. And the common people of my Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency have also requested me not to resign. I will continue my job as MP and work for the development of people,” Kabir Suman said at a media meet here.

Mahasweta Devi has been leading a group of intellectuals to back Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in her fight against West Bengal’s ruling Left Front for the last four years.

Last week Kabir Suman had expressed his wish to resign from the Lok Sabha and the party, but put the decision on hold for a week following an ‘order’ from writer Mahasweta Devi.

However, there seems to be no love lost between Suman and the Trinamool with the popular poet-singer-politician saying the wrongdoings of some party leaders had forced him to speak in public.

“A section of the party leadership is misusing power. They have created hurdles whenever I tried to work for the people. I hope in future I won’t be stopped from working for the people,” said Suman.

“Mamata Banerjee is the leader of the party. She is not the leader of my conscience,” added Suman.

He had sent an SMS to Banerjee and three other Trinamool leaders March 29 expressing his wish to resign from the party and the Lok Sabha following months of bitterness on issues like corruption in the party and the anti-Maoist Operation Green Hunt.