Senior TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy on Tuesday stepped down as the editor of party mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ (Wake up, Bengal) citing personal reasons.

Roy was recently in news for backing the junior doctor’s agitation following the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

“I am leaving the post as editor of Jago Bangla for personal reasons as I cannot do justice to my post since taking over in 2022. Not that I am faced with any interference in discharging my responsibility. Someone else, who can perform this role in a better way, should take over,” Roy said.

The TMC leader, who has been in the party for 13 years, had taken over the mantle after the arrest of senior TMC leader and former minister Partha Chatterjee in the school job scam by the ED in 2022.

His recent social media posts on the junior doctor’s agitation left the party red-faced.

Roy’s first post came on August 13, soon after the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigations into the rape-murder case from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which read, “Gangrape and merciless murder happened in RG Kar Hospital. Who are they? Now the CBI to investigate. Well. I’ve no faith in CBI. They are nincompoop. Yet the truth is to be unravelled. Why there are attempts to shield the beasts? Whosoever is responsible for the crime must be hanged.”

The next day, he participated in a midnight sit-in close to his south Kolkata residence in the early hours of Independence Day when cries of justice for the RG Kar hospital victim shattered the city’s midnight air.

He subsequently wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah to promulgate a “stringent central legislation” to ensure safety of women at workplaces and institutions.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)

Union minister Ramdas Athawale demanded on Tuesday to cancel the passport of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to stop him from “defaming” India during his foreign trips.

Addressing a press conference in Palghar, the MOS for Social Justice said it doesn’t behove Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, to make “anti-reservation” statements.

“Rahul Gandhi visits foreign countries and defames India by making such statements. His passport should be cancelled to stop him from making such remarks,” Athawale said while responding to a query on certain remarks made by Gandhi during his recent visit to the US that kicked up a row.

The Dalit leader said Congress will cease to exist one day but reservations won’t.

Athawale, whose RPI (A) is part of NDA, further said allying with NCP leader Ajit Pawar is not detrimental to the prospects of the Mahayuti (grand alliance).

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)