A fresh political storm seems to be brewing within West Bengal’s opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) after senior party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar attended a high-level administrative meeting chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday, barely a day after resigning from a key organisational post in the party.
The meeting, held in Kalyani near Kolkata, reviewed development works and welfare schemes across Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts.
According to officials, all MPs and MLAs from the three districts were invited.
Among those present were TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and party legislators from Deganga, Swarupnagar and Haroa.
Her appearance at a meeting led by BJP chief minister Suvendu Adhikari immediately fuelled speculation in political circles that the veteran TMC leader could be weighing a switch to the BJP, especially in the aftermath of the Trinamool Congress’s crushing defeat in the recently-concluded Assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the programme, Dastidar dismissed attempts to politicise her presence and said, “The administration belongs to everyone”.
However, the optics of the meeting have intensified chatter around the growing cracks within the TMC.
Dastidar’s participation comes just a day after reports emerged that she had stepped down as president of the party’s Barasat organisational district, citing “moral responsibility” for the party’s poor electoral performance in her constituency.
A longtime associate of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and among the TMC’s founding generation, Dastidar has become one of the most prominent leaders to publicly question the party leadership after the electoral debacle.
Her resignation letter and subsequent remarks exposed widening discontent within the organisation over governance issues, corruption allegations and the growing influence of political consultancy firm I-PAC.
The developments come against the backdrop of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s sharp attack on the TMC after the election results.
“The party [Trinamool Congress] will collapse within 24 hours. It is a corruption-driven family party with no real ideology,” Adhikari had said on May 4 after the BJP’s landslide victory in the state.
Though the TMC has survived politically, internal tensions have continued to mount.
Several leaders, including MP Kalyan Banerjee and suspended spokesperson Riju Dutta, have openly criticised the party’s dependence on I-PAC and accused the leadership of sidelining grassroots workers.
Dastidar intensified the criticism after resigning from her organisational role.
Addressing reporters earlier this week, she blamed I-PAC for damaging the party structure and alienating workers. “If there is anyone at the root of the destruction, then it is that organisation [I-PAC]. It has completely destroyed everything,” she said.
In her resignation letter, the veteran MP also pointed to corruption and governance failures within the state administration.
“Some alarming incidents of crime and corruption in West Bengal in recent times have naturally raised questions and apprehensions in the minds of the ordinary people,” she wrote, while urging the party to restore “transparency, accountability” and reconnect with old grassroots workers.
Her son, Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar, further added to the speculation by suggesting that his mother could even step down as an MP in the future.
However, he denied reports that she was preparing to join the BJP, insisting her stand was “against corruption” rather than politically motivated.
Even so, Tuesday’s meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has added a fresh layer of intrigue to West Bengal politics, with the TMC continuing to grapple with dissent, blame games and uncertainty following its electoral collapse.
– Ends
With PTI inputs
Published On:
May 26, 2026 14:56 IST
