TMC's Luizinho Faleiro resigns as Rajya Sabha member; says will quit party soon

Luizinho Faleiro

Trinamool Congress's (TMC) Rajya Sabha member and former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro tendered his resignation from the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday and said he wanted to free himself from this responsibility to work as a foot soldier again in the interest of Goa.

Talking to PTI, 71-year-old Faleiro said he would soon resign from the TMC also.

Faleiro, who was in Congress before joining TMC in September 2021, said many political parties have approached him.

"But at this moment, I am not joining any political party. I have resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP and leave it at that," he said. Faleiro submitted his resignation from the Rajya Sabha to its Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar.

A TMC leader said the party will announce a new candidate for the seat as and when the election is notified.

Long being sidelined from the party affairs in Goa, Faleiro was being nudged by the TMC leadership to resign from the Rajya Sabha.

TMC sources said he was asked to resign a few months back but he sought some time.

"We wish him good health and happiness. The party had asked him to resign from his Rajya Sabha seat, and it is good that he abided by the party's decision," TMC MP Santanu Sen told PTI.

He said the party will announce a new candidate for the seat as and when the election is notified.

To a query why he was asked to resign, Sen refused to comment, saying it was an "internal matter of the party".

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has been upset with Faleiro after he refused to contest the 2022 Assembly election from Fatorda against Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai, according to TMC sources.

When the TMC made a much-hyped foray in Goa ahead of the 2022 state Assembly polls, it asked Rajya Sabha MP Arpita Ghosh, who had a term till 2026, to quit and sent Faleiro to the Upper House in 2021.

The TMC had failed to win a single seat in the 40-member Goa Assembly.

In his two-page resignation letter, Faleiro said he had faced the challenge and disappointment of being a "Goan MP but not an MP from Goa."

"When attempting to secure funds from my MPLAD quota, I realised that I could spend only Rs 25,00,000 of my allocated funds outside the state from which I have been elected (West Bengal)," he said.

"While I could have raised a little more, it would not have been enough for my dream project of honouring India's first freedom fighter and a Goan," he said referring to his proposal to construct a memorial in the name of freedom fighter late Francisco Luis Gomes.

Faleiro further said he has been "pressed for time" in the Rajya Sabha to raise issues concerning Goa because of the limited time allotted to the party, making it "difficult to raise Goa's issues in the depth and manner needed to have an impact".

Faleiro said while this position (Rajya Sabha member) is of privilege and great honour, it also comes with a responsibility.

"The limitations mentioned have and will prevent me from exercising my duties to the best of my ability and need," he said.

"I am of the considered opinion that I should free myself of this responsibility to enable me to work as a foot soldier again in Goa's cause in my sunset years in public service," he added.

Responding to his resignation, the TMC Goa in a media statement said, "We wish Luizinho Faleiro good health, happiness and long life. We sincerely hope that he continues to tirelessly serve the people of Gao and strive towards achieving more progress and advancement of the state."

The TMC also said it will announce a new candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat as and when the election is notified.