A day after TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar attended an administrative meeting in Kalyani in Nadira district, chaired by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, leading to speculations of her switching sides, Dastidar resigned from all organisational posts in the TMC.
The move comes even as she had claimed that she merely attended an administrative meeting and not a party programme. It is to be noted that after the administrative review meeting, Adhikari had claimed that TMC MP had told him that she had "finally got freedom", adding to the political buzz around her presence at the event.
Dastidar was the national president of the TMC's women's wing and was associated with the party's 'Banga Janani' programme.
On Sunday, Dastidar, considered to be a close aide of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, quit as Barasat organisational district president, taking moral responsibility for the party’s downfall in the area in the recently concluded assembly elections.
Her resignation letter appears to suggest that there are serious issues in the party.
"...it is with profound sorrow and concern that I request to be relieved of my responsibilities as Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Mahila Congress, along with all other organisational posts, committees and responsibilities within the party. I find little meaning in continuing in a position from which one is unable to prevent the indecent behaviour of an untrained party colleague towards a woman Member of Parliament, nor receive the cooperation, support and empathy expected from the senior leadership," she wrote in the letter addressed to TMC state president Subrata Bakshi.
She said she has been troubled by several incidents and allegations concerning the state and the party over the past decade.
Dastidar, one of Mamata’s oldest associates, said issues such as corruption in the jute sector, the teacher recruitment scam and other financial and administrative irregularities have created widespread resentment and eroded public trust.
"Various allegations raised by individuals and groups regarding IPAC have also caused me deep concern. In my view, if unethical and undemocratic influences begin to overshadow democratic political consensus within the organisation, it cannot bode well for the ideals, culture and traditions of the party," she wrote.
However, she said she is not quitting the party and that she will stand with ordinary TMC workers and continue working for the welfare of people in the state.
She will continue as the MP of the Barasat Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.
The development is likely to deepen speculation over the evolving equations within the TMC, following its electoral setback and a string of public expressions of dissatisfaction by some leaders.