Murshidabad Zilla Parishad vice-chairperson Sahanaz Begum on Thursday announced her resignation, following a long-standing feud with its chairperson, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Rubia Sultana.
In a Facebook statement announcing her resignation, she labelled the Zilla Parishad administration a "thief", and said that she had been "forced to quit" from the council before the end of her term.
"My sincere respect to my respected Zilla Parishad colleagues. The storm you brought to the protest for removing me from the group will be forever memorable," she wrote in the post, thanking the people of Sompara-1, Sompara-2, Rampara-1, and Ramnagar Bachra for selecting her "three times in the same seat since 2013".
This exit from the Mamata Banerjee-led party has sparked rumours of tensions within the party worsening over minority-dominated Murshidabad.
The former District Women's President, who resigned in 2020, has long alleged that Sultana was involved in financial scams.
She has earlier claimed that she had approached CM Banerjee, the party's All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and even the state president Subrata Bakshi, but that no action had been taken so far.
Reports say she resigned over this issue, though Begum does not explicitly mention all this in her Facebook post, only calling the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad a "thief".
However, the tensions between Sultana and Begum are reportedly not new, and have existed since the foundation stone of the Babri Masjid was laid. In that regard, Begum's exit also comes amid Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and Naushad Siddiqui-led ISF vying for control in Murshidabad.
Murshidabad is also a target for ex-TMC MLA Humayun Kabir, who was suspended for his wish to construct a 'Babri Masjid-like mosque there.
“I will launch a new party on my own in Beldanga in Murshidabad on December 22. AIMIM has not been invited to the event. I will declare a 75-member state committee that day, including the Murshidabad district president. Then I will decide which party to include in the alliance," Kabir has said.
