Former West Bengal minister and senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Jyoti Priya Mallick on Friday announced his resignation from all party posts, citing serious health issues.
Mallick, a longtime confidant of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and one of the party’s most influential leaders in North 24 Parganas, said he had already informed the party leadership about his decision.
“I have resigned from all the posts in the TMC because of my extremely poor health condition,” Mallick said.
The resignation comes just days after the TMC carried out a major organisational reshuffle and inducted him into its newly reconstituted working committee, making his decision particularly significant.
Popularly known as “Balu,” Mallick played a crucial role in building and strengthening the Trinamool Congress organisation in North 24 Parganas over the last two decades. He served as West Bengal’s Food and Supplies Minister from 2011 to 2021 and was regarded as one of the party’s key organisational strategists.
However, his political career suffered a major setback in October 2023 when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam. Since his arrest, Mallick has repeatedly cited health complications and undergone multiple medical examinations while in custody.
His resignation also comes at a time when the Trinamool Congress is grappling with an unprecedented internal crisis. The party has been facing a major rebellion following the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, leading to deep divisions within both its legislative and parliamentary wings.
In the West Bengal Assembly, a group of 58 dissident TMC MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee broke away from the party leadership and secured recognition from the Speaker as the dominant legislature group. The faction subsequently elected Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition.
The split has also extended to Parliament, where 20 rebel TMC MPs, including senior leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, sought a merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), claiming the support of more than two-thirds of the party’s Lok Sabha members.
These developments have sparked legal and political battles over legislative legitimacy, anti-defection provisions, and control of the party’s organisational structure, marking what many observers describe as the deepest crisis in the history of the Trinamool Congress.
Mallick had contested the 2026 Assembly elections from Habra on a TMC ticket but was defeated. A former MLA from Gaighata, he represented the Habra Assembly constituency for three consecutive terms after winning elections in 2011, 2016 and 2021.
While Mallick has attributed his resignation solely to health reasons, his exit from all party posts comes at a politically sensitive moment for the TMC as it navigates one of the most challenging phases in its history.
