Trinamool Congress veteran and former state minister Rabindranath Ghosh on Saturday resigned from the post of Cooch Behar municipality chairman almost two months after the district party leadership asked him to do so.

Ghosh, a prominent face of Cooch Behar politics for decades, submitted his resignation letter to the SDO.

Confirming the development to The Telegraph, Ghosh said he stepped down following instructions from the party’s national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee. Abhishek is scheduled to visit Cooch Behar on January 13.

“I am a loyal soldier of the party. I have always followed the party’s instructions to the letter. Now I need to focus more on organisational work. The Assembly elections are approaching, and strengthening the party’s organisation is our main objective,” Ghosh said.

Political circles are abuzz over who will replace him. Trinamool sources indicated that Dilip Saha, the councillor from ward 5, has emerged as a potential contender.

Last November, Abhijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamool president, had asked Ghosh to step down. Ghosh responded that he would "only if Mamata Banerjee instructed me to and not some leader of the district”.

Till Friday, he did not budge from his stand. On Saturday, De Bhowmik could not be contacted. Girindranath Barman, the party’s district chairman, said: “Rabi babu had said he would step down if directed by the state leadership, and he has done so."