A fresh wave of unease appears to be surfacing within the Trinamool Congress after Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar publicly expressed disappointment over being removed from a key parliamentary post. Soon after a high-level meeting chaired by Mamata Banerjee at Kalighat, Kakoli posted an emotionally charged message on social media, describing her removal as the “reward” for four decades of loyalty to the party leadership.
The Trinamool Congress chief on Thursday reshuffled responsibilities within the party’s Lok Sabha parliamentary team, removing Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar from the post of chief whip and reinstating Srirampur MP Kalyan Banerjee to the position.
Within hours of the decision, Kakoli shared a cryptic but pointed post online that many within political circles interpreted as a clear expression of dissatisfaction.
“Known each other since 1976, began our journey together in 1984. Today I have been rewarded for four decades of loyalty,” she wrote.
The statement immediately triggered political speculation and renewed discussions about internal tensions within the Trinamool Congress following the party’s defeat in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections.
Kakoli’s political association with Mamata Banerjee dates back to their student politics days in the Congress student wing. While Mamata was active at Jogamaya Devi College, Kakoli was involved in student politics at Kolkata Medical College. Their relationship strengthened further during Mamata’s historic 1984 Lok Sabha campaign from Jadavpur, where she defeated veteran CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee.
For decades, Kakoli remained one of Mamata’s trusted political associates and held several important responsibilities within the parliamentary party. Before becoming chief whip, she had long served as Trinamool’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.
Kalyan Banerjee had resigned from the chief whip post in August last year amid a public political confrontation with Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra. Mamata Banerjee accepted his resignation at the time and appointed Kakoli to the position. Following that reshuffle, actress-turned-politician Shatabdi Roy was made deputy leader in Lok Sabha.
With Kalyan Banerjee now returning as chief whip and Shatabdi Roy retaining her post as deputy leader, Kakoli currently holds no significant parliamentary position within the party hierarchy.
Several leaders within the Trinamool Congress believe that this sudden removal is the reason behind her emotional public response.
The development comes at a politically sensitive moment for the ruling party. After suffering a major setback in the Assembly elections and losing power to the BJP, multiple signs of internal friction have begun surfacing publicly within the Trinamool Congress.
Just a day earlier, senior leader Kunal Ghosh had openly spoken about internal mistakes and claimed that leaders such as Tapas Roy and Sajal Ghosh were effectively pushed out of the party. He also called for “self-introspection” within the organisation.
The party leadership has already suspended several spokespersons in recent weeks over controversial or anti-party remarks.
Against this backdrop, Mamata Banerjee reportedly urged MPs during the Kalighat meeting to stay united and stand together during the party’s difficult phase. However, Kakoli’s social media post has now added fresh fuel to speculation about growing dissatisfaction within sections of the party.
Interestingly, political observers note that the reshuffle does not appear directly linked to Lok Sabha constituency-wise Assembly election performance. In Barasat, five out of seven Assembly segments were won by the BJP, while in Kalyan Banerjee’s Srirampur constituency, Trinamool also lost five of seven segments.
As of now, the exact reason behind Mamata Banerjee’s decision to replace Kakoli with Kalyan Banerjee remains unclear.
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