Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:Taking moral responsibility for the lapses in management in the event featuring Argentine football star Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium here on December 13, West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas has submitted his resignation.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accepted his resignation, Trinamool Congress spokesman and state General Secretary, Kunal Ghosh, said in a social media statement on December 16. However, there was no official confirmation from the Chief Minister’s office on this count. At the same time, no announcement has been made so far about Biswas’ successor.
In his handwritten resignation letter in Bengali, Biswas claimed that since the Chief Minister had formed a probe committee headed by a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court, he is resigning as state Sports Minister for the sake of impartiality of the investigation to be carried out by it.
“I hope you will approve my request in the matter,” read the resignation letter from Biswas, who is also the state Power Minister. This means that despite resigning as the Sports Minister, Biswas will continue to be a member of the state Cabinet.
Biswas had been the main target of scathing criticism from all quarters, including civil society and opposition parties, over the chaos at Salt Lake Stadium. In fact, Biswas was present at the stadium alongside Messi during the event. Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Monday said he will send a separate report to the Central Government outlining his observations on the lapses in management at the Salt Lake Stadium. “I will submit a report on this count to the Union Government. At the same time, I will also give some suggestions to the West Bengal Government on the precautions that should be adopted in case of similar mega events in the future. Till now, only one of the organisers has been arrested for this mismanagement. But that is just the tip of the iceberg,” the Governor told mediapersons at the end of a programme at Lok Bhavan on December 15. The Governor also said that the state administration and police personnel present at the stadium on that day could not evade responsibility for what happened and were equally accountable for the lapses.
