As discontentment grew in the Trinamul Congress camp following the selection of party candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, the party suffered a jolt after three senior leaders called it quits in Siliguri, Mirik in Darjeeling and Malda today.

In Siliguri, popular TMC leader and vice-chairman of the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) Nantu Paul said he would contest the elections in Siliguri as an Independent candidate.

Paul, who had already expressed his grievances at the party’s decision to select an “outsider” as the Siliguri candidate, also skipped a march led by party chief Mamata Banerjee in the town today.

“I came to know that a survey conducted by the team of PK ranked me on the first position as the candidate from Siliguri. But suddenly, my name was removed, while the candidate who has been selected (Prof Om Prakash Mishra) has a poor track record. He had failed to win earlier elections. I think he will lose here too, especially when a player like Bhaichung Bhutia had been defeated (in the 2016 Assembly elections). He will be defeated and for this we will be held responsible that we did not work for him. Despite the tireless efforts from Bhaichung Bhutia, we faced criticism for his defeat. Therefore, I have decided to contest as an Independent candidate from the same segment. I will quit from all posts that I hold before the submission of nomination papers,” Paul said.

Paul is also the vice-president of the North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games and holds posts in the other sports bodies.

He said he held long discussions with state tourism minister Gautam Deb, PWD minister Aroop Biswas and Darjeeling district party president Ranjan Sarkar and others over the issue today. Sarkar, on the other hand, did not want to comment on  Paul’s resignation.

A turncoat, Paul started his political career with the CPI-M. In 2006, he joined the TMC, stayed in the party for around a month and then joined the Congress. He rejoined the TMC in Kolkata on 27 September in 2012.

“Siliguri people want development in the town. The sitting MLA of Siliguri and the chairperson of the board of administrators of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation Asok Bhattacharya has failed to address the problems. There has been no development, parking problems, many houses do not have drinking water connections, the sewerage system is very poor,” Paul said.

Political analysts said Paul contesting as an Independent candidate would mean division in the vote of the TMC to some extent.

In Malda, the district TMC seemed to fall apart after the district coordinator of the party and a member of the administrative board of the English Bazaar Municipality, Amlan Bhaduri, quit the party this evening. Talking to the Press at his residence at Sadarghat in English Bazaar, Bhaduri, who is known to be very close to Suvendu Adhikari, however, denied that he was quitting because he was not selected as the party poll candidate. He alleged that the party, instead of fighting the opposition parties, was only concerned about the factional feud within the party. He also claimed that the party will lose half its strength within a week.

“Half of the party will switch over to the BJP soon. Such is the anger among activists here and I felt it. I have, however, not received calls from the BJP to join them till now,” Bhaduri said.

District chairman of the TMC and candidate for the English Bazaar seat, Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, said, “His body was with the TMC but the soul with BJP. The party will not suffer an inch here for his resignation.”

In Mirik, former Hill TMC President Rajen Mukhia also put in his papers. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Panighatta Bazaar in the plains under the Mirik sub-division, Mukhia said: “I am officially making this announcement today that I am resigning from the Hill TMC. I felt that we have been neglected by the party since long. I was the founding member of the Hill TMC, but now no one even asks me before holding meetings or going ahead with party work. The last straw was the party’s decision to not give us any election candidate. We knew that the high command had been knowingly neglecting us,” he added. He, however, said he has not decided on his future course of action.