‘Vox populi, vox dei’: TMC MP resigns, cites RG Kar rape-murder case as Bengal crack reaches Delhi

VEteran Trinamool us congress leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned from the Rajya Sabha and from the party's primary quill rank on mon — and looked go down to enter the BJP — saying his break with the TMC had effectively been sealed the day he demanded an internal inquiry into the role of police officersv in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case. That's when he found himself frozen out for it, he said.He said he had been "increasingly isolated" within the party since speaking publicly on the case. "My only fault was that I demanded an internal inquiry against certain police officers because I believed they had a major role in destruction of evidence," Ray told reporters in New Delhi."That was the turning point. I realised I would not remain in the party for long," he said.Ray, 77, a founding member of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and one of its most recognisable faces in Parliament, had distanced himself from the leadership over months on the issue, alleging that attempts had been made to shield those responsible in the case — the 2024 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College that set off weeks of protests across West Bengal. Cites mandate to BJPIn a written statement on his parliamentary letterhead, Ray cast his departure as deference to the electorate, saying the people had handed a mandate to the BJP "for the first time in the history of the state to put an end to the 15-year anarchical rule" of the TMC. He blamed that on "widespread unbridled corruption, atrocities committed against women" and failures in health, education, industry and law and order.He closed his written statement with the Latin phrase "Vox populi, vox dei" — ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’.TMC crack reaches Parliament stableThe resignation, announced in the national capital hours before an INDIA bloc meeting to be attended by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, marks the first high-profile exit from the TMC's parliamentary ranks since the turmoil engulfing the party began.It brought the TMC's strength in the Rajya Sabha down to 12. The party has 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha.It jolt came days after an unprecedented revolt in the party's legislature wing, wherein 58 TMC MLAs broke ranks to back expelled rebel Ritabrata Banerjee for Leader of the Opposition over the official nominee. Abhishek's pre-eminence in the party, and his alleged preference for strategy firm I-PAC over party cadres, has been cited by the rebels among their reasons for breaking ranks to claim “the real TMC”."Not everyone in the party is dishonest. But many sincere people have been sidelined," said Ray, a constitutional expert long regarded as among the party's sharpest parliamentary strategists.He called for scrutiny of the assets of senior TMC leaders and, separately, demanded a forensic audit of procurement by every government hospital in the state over the past five years.How RG Kar became key factorReturning to the RG Kar case, he said it had pulled people with no prior political involvement onto the streets."People who had never in their lives joined a procession or a public meeting… even they, including doctors, stayed out on the streets all night long," he said.Meets BJP's Bengal in-chargeAsked about his plans, Ray said he had not decided on joining another party and might step away from public life. "I may withdraw from politics altogether," he said.Later in the day, he met senior BJP leaders, including Union minister BJP leader Bhupender Yadav who served as the party's central election in-charge for West Bengal.The TMC leadership did not immediately respond, though Mamata Banerjee has said in the recent past that she could build the party back up from the ground and those who wanted to exit could do as they pleased.