Kolkata: Is the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on the verge of a major break-up?
Four-time MP from Barasat and one of the closest aides of party supremo Mamata Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, has resigned from the post of organisational district president.
This came after Kalyan Banerjee replaced her as the party’s Lok Sabha chief whip. Kakoli also spoke out against the decision to hire political consultancy firm I-PAC, which, she said, created “havoc” and “ruined” the party, as reported
She may also step down as MP, her son told The Indian Express.
Kakoli took moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in her Barasat constituency and appealed to Mamata to rely on veteran party workers rather than “external consultants”, in her resignation letter to TMC West Bengal president Subrata Bakshi,
Earlier, Kalyan Banerjee had also blamed I-PAC for the party’s poor showing in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state.
“If there is anyone at the root of the destruction, then it is that organisation (I-PAC). It has completely destroyed everything… I did not appoint them. Only those who appointed it can talk about it. But those little children harassed us, harassed our workers… I have been in politics for the past 40 to 45 years. Now, a young girl of 22 to 23 years from the consultant firm, which finished the party, would come and threaten me. Would dictate what to do and how to do,” Kakoli, who has been an MP since 2009, told mediapersons.
“My appeal to leader Mamata Banerjee is that if you work with the dedicated, old workers, just like in the past. It will brighten the party’s image. I do not think difficult work can be accomplished through fly-by-night agencies,” she wrote on her resignation letter.
Kakoli was also critical about the goings-on in the state and the way the TMC handled major issues.
“Recent alarming incidents of crime and corruption in West Bengal have
naturally raised questions and anxieties in the minds of the general public. To strengthen democracy further, greater importance must be given to transparency, accountability, commitment, decorum, and responsibility toward the people, along with core values,” she wrote.
Incidentally, she is an alumnus of the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital where a PG intern was raped and murdered in 2024.
Kakoli got sentimental after being removed from the post of chief whip and posted on social media: “Acquainted since ’76, the journey began in ’84. Today, I have been rewarded for four decades of loyalty.”
Her son Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar said Kakoli had also resigned as president of the TMC’s women’s wing and added that she might resign as MP.
Scandals of the Mamata government took a toll on their family’s reputation, Baidyanath, who is not associated with the TMC, told The Indian Express.
“Out of the seven Assembly seats in Barasat parliamentary constituency, the TMC lost six. So, taking responsibility and standing against the corruption that has been there for the last five to 10 years, my mother has taken a stand,” he said.
“Personal loyalty could no longer mask issues in the party,” he said when asked about his mother’s family-like ties with Mamata Banerjee.
“She (Kakoli) is still close to Mamata Banerjee, but for how long can someone put up with these things? Under Partha Chatterjee, jobs were sold, and many were left unemployed. Jyotipriya Mullick was arrested in ration scam. We all saw the RG Kar incident. We also had to bear the brunt. We are an educated and respectable family. For how long can you put up with a government with so many corruption charges? The fingers are also pointed at us. Because of a personal relationship, my mother has been quiet all this time,” Baidyanath said.
“It is not about joining the BJP. My mother is taking a stand that she cannot be a part of corruption. She had to take a stand against corruption,” he said when asked whether Kakoli is joining the BJP.
Interestingly, after she was removed from her position as chief whip, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs accorded Y-category security cover to Kakoli. The security detail was upgraded by the BJP government at the Centre following a threat perception assessment report compiled by the Intelligence Bureau (IB).