It was a jolt for the senior ranks of the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday when Ghosh Dastidar made good on her decision to step down from every organisational post. She had been at an administrative huddle with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari just hours before. The Barasat MP, who has been to Parliament four times, put it down to principle, and you can be sure the BJP is making something of it, as are those with an eye on the TMC’s future.
What triggered the exit
You don’t have to look far for the reason. In a note to state president Subrata Bakshi, she says it was a hard call, one she has been over in her mind for some time. But make no mistake, she is not walking away from the party; she will be around as a worker for the sake of Bengal and the people here.
This is the end of a rough few days that started when she let go of the Barasat district presidency. At the same time, she is done being the face of the All India Trinamool Mahila Congress and any other committee work that comes with it.
In her letter, the MP put it plainly: what is the point of having a title if you can’t put a stop to some uneducated, rude MP in the party misbehaving with a woman? And if you can’t get the ear of the top brass? Most are reading between the lines and seeing a jab at Kalyan Banerjee.
Allegations that cut to the party’s core
Ghosh Dastidar didn’t mince words in her letter. There are some things the leadership has let slide, and they have been on her conscience. She is talking about the kind of controversies that have riled up West Bengal politics for the last ten years or so.
For her, three things have eroded the party’s standing:
– Letting indecency towards women workers be
– The whole RG Kar affair and the attempts to stifle it
– I-PAC’s hand in how the party runs, even though they weren’t elected to it
There is also the matter of the recent reshuffle. After the party's showing in the polls, Banerjee of Serampore was put back in as chief whip in the Lok Sabha, with her out of the way. That timing has left some in her circle feeling the sting of it.
The Suvendu Adhikari meeting and rising political chatter
Before she handed in her resignation, she was at a Kalyani meeting with the Chief Minister, even if the party was said to have given her a nudge not to come. Adhikari for his part says she came to him and said she was free at last.
It’s the optics of it. To see her with Adhikari and then have her walk from her party roles in short order has everyone in the Trinamool on edge. Rivals are already speculating on what else might be in store.
Why this matters for TMC right now
This is more than a blip in the post-poll aftermath. Ghosh Dastidar has been a right-hand woman to Mamata Banerjee and has a firm hold on North 24 Parganas, an area the TMC has long called home in the urban centres.
She has also been one of the louder voices in Parliament against the centre. So her going public with this is both a statement and a reality check, a sign of some weariness with the way things are run and the line the party is putting out.
Not long after, she was at it again, pointing to things that don’t sit well with the constitution and saying anti-incumbency was part of why the TMC lost. It shows how much the story of how the party is run is tied up with its chances of a comeback.
Who is Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
If you don’t know her, she is a no-nonsense Trinamool and has been the MP for Barasat for four terms. She has been in charge of the All India Trinamool Mahila Congress and has been involved with the Bangla Janani programme, among other things.
Now she says she is happy to be a regular in the party. Whether that means some house-cleaning or more of a rift is to be seen, and it will tell you a lot about how the TMC is handling the fallout from a tough election.
What comes next
The leadership has to put out the fire. When someone of her standing leaves, you start to ask about accountability and the role of outsiders like I-PAC in the candidate list.
Down in the districts she used to run, there is a void, and it is felt in more ways than one. If the party is open to changing course, they will have to show it by how they deal with what she has put on the table.
