Bengal minister quits to concentrate on sports

West Bengal minister of state for youth services and sports and former Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla quit all forms of politics, saying he wanted to concentrate more on sports, but did not resign as the Howrah (North) MLA. He wrote a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, apprising her of his decision. She responded, saying “there is nothing wrong when a sportsperson wants to return to sports,” and sent a recommendation to governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to “relieve” Shukla from the state cabinet. The CM stressed that there was “no room for any misunderstanding” over Shukla’s decision, adding, “Anyone can do this. Laxmi bhalo chele (Laxmi is a good person). He has resigned. In his letter, he did not write about resigning as a minister.”