Under attack from party colleagues for his writing letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on issues and dispute involving big corporate houses, veteran Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Abani Roy has resigned from primary membership of the outfit.
However, the party is yet to decide whether to accept the resignation of 70-year-old Roy, a Rajya Sabha member, who has been associated with RSP for half a century, party sources said tonight. Roy tendered his resignation from the party on July 15, two days after he had written a letter to the prime minister opposing the merger between Bharti Telecom with South African telecom major MTN alleging it was a threat to India's security.
Roy had also written a letter to the PM on the dispute between the Ambani brothers--Anil and Mukesh. Roy's party colleagues have gone on record protesting his writing the letters on corporate issues. Taking umbrage to this, Roy, in his resignation letter to RSP general secretary P J Chandrachoodan, said that "instead of conveying their protests through national dailies, the party should have seen the letters first from me and could have taken follow-up action, if any including disciplinary action against me".
Referring to his resignation letter, Roy told PTI that "I have given the letter and the party will take a final decision".He wondered how come his resignation letter reached the media even before a decision has been taken on it.Roy, the RSP leader from West Bengal, has been a member of Rajya Sabha since 1998. His association with the party dates back to 1959 and has been involved in activities of the party's frontal wings, including the trade union UTUC, and the party.The RSP is a constituent of ruling Left Front in West Bengal and Kerala.