He is known to never mince words, speaking straight from the heart. Kabir Suman, folk singer-turned Trinamool MP from Jadavpur, shot off a fresh volley on Tuesday evening when he offered to resign as MP, creating for the party unrest it can do without in these make-or-break times.
“I want to resign from the post of Trinamool MP. Mamata has described me a guest in the party, which is a great insult to me. How dare she call me so? Do I just go to Parliament for a visit or to sign the register to earn my daily MP allowance of Rs1,000? I will tell the honourable speaker and the PM about my decision,” a fuming Suman thundered.
He bellowed, “I am glad that I don’t belong to any party. I have my music, my guitar and my friends to fall back upon. I don’t understand why the Trinamool brought me into their fold and yet did not allow me to function properly.”
Often called the Pete Seger of Bengal, Suman has been spitting fire of late. Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerji had taken the matter lightly till now, calling him a “guest” in her party. But sources say she was unhappy about Suman going to the media with his grouse. The grouse? Certain Trinamool functionaries were preventing him from carrying out his duties as MP and spreading canards about him.
Suman named certain party officials — South 24-Parganas zilla president Sovon Chatterjee and ex-zilla president Arup Bhadra. “Chatterjee has actually told me that politics is a dirty game of which I understand nothing. He said, ‘we will spend the money allocated to you as an MP. You will just sign…’,” Suman said.
Suman had complained to the party chief. Will the leadership take action? “If the leadership feels they need to be punished, the issue will be addressed accordingly,” a source said. According to him, because of certain panchayat rules, Suman was not being allowed to execute his duties as MP. “Once we come to power, Didi has said these rules will be amended,” the source said.
