Trinamool MP Quits Party Posts, Cites RG Kar In Bombshell Letter

Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has resigned from all posts that she held in the party. Among other things, she used to be the president of the party's Women's Cell. In her resignation letter, she wrote, "There is no point occupying a post from where one cannot stop the misbehaviour of a fellow MP of the party towards a woman MP or gain cooperation on the matter from senior leaders".

The letter also cited corruption in public distribution system, appointment of teachers, irregularities in governance and finance and the death of the death of the doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar hospital and allegations of a cover-up that, she wrote, has "sparked dissatisfaction and mistrust among the people". 

"I too have felt the moral sting," she wrote.

"Then there is also the concern many feel about the allegations against I-PAC. If a democratic system within a party has been overshadowed by an undemocratic, murky influence, then i don't think it is good for the ideals and the heritage of a party," read a rough translation of the letter in Bengali.

She, however, underscored that she will not quit the party and stay on as an "ordinary worker".

The allegations about IPAC, which had started since it was hired by Abhishek Banerjee -- party MP and the nephew of Mamata Banerjee -- have grown since the defeat in the assembly election. 

Senior leaders like Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Kalyan Banerjee have publicly accused I-PAC of arrogance and having zero understanding of ground-level electoral politics.

There have also been allegations that the organistion started by poll strategist-turned politician Prashant Kishor, sidelined established leaders, maligned grassroots cadres, and restricted direct access to Mamata Banerjee.

All the criticisms ultimately reflected on Abhishek Banerjee, whose rise within the party had irked veterans who had stayed at the side of Mamata Banerjee since she broke away from the Congress and formed Trinamool Congress. It had also sparked the first wave of exodus to the BJP ahead of the 2021 elections. 

Many of the leaders eventually had returned to the party after its sweeping victory in the 2021 assembly elections. 

The historic victory of the BJP in Bengal this time appears to have set off another wave. Already, reports say over 100 councillors have left the Trinamool Congress.

There is a buzz that other senior leaders are on their way out, especially after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari recently invited Trinamool MPs and MLAs to attend government administrative meetings, marking a major departure from past practices. 

Ghosh Dastidar, sources said, had attended the recent meeting in Kalyani, that focussed on the districts of Nadia, North 24 Parganas and the Hooghly districts.