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As the party grapples with internal conflict, Kakoli Dastidar has been accused of opportunism amid BJP's rise in West Bengal. She has dismissed those charges.
Mamata Banerjee's Assembly heartbreak reaches Parliament, 20-MP TMC rebel camp led by Kakoli Dastidar eager to join NDA(Sansad TV )As Mamata Banerjee attended INDIA Bloc's meeting in New Delhi, a new problem coming shortly after her Assembly defeat was brewing back in Kolkata. A group of rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) Parliamentarians, led by Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, claimed to have the support of 20 MPs to break sway from the TMC and support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also said that they have decided to write to Speaker Om Birla declaring support for the NDA.
Asserting “people's verdict” that gave 207 seats to BJP in the West Bengal Assembly Election 2026, Dastidar said, “Nearly twenty TMC MPs, including me, have decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and formally support the NDA. We have accepted the people's verdict and believe that our future political course should be aligned with the NDA.”
Quick answers to key questions
Kakoli Dastidar stated that nearly twenty TMC MPs accepted the 'people's verdict' from the recent elections and believed their future political course should align with the NDA for the development and national interest.
Currently, 20 TMC MPs have expressed their intention to support the NDA, which would allow them to bypass the anti-defection law by functioning as a separate parliamentary bloc.
The rebellion was triggered by dissatisfaction with Mamata Banerjee's leadership, particularly after she re-appointed Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip, leading to Kakoli Dastidar's resignation from her organizational posts.
The TMC's strength in Parliament is significantly diminished, as the support of 20 MPs for the NDA reduces the party's effective representation to only 8 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Yes, Mamata Banerjee should be concerned, as the internal conflicts and the rebellion could undermine her leadership and the party's stability following its electoral defeat.
The TMC currently has 28 Lok Sabha MPs, with one vacancy following the death of Basirhat MP Haji Nurul Islam. The support of 20 MPs would comfortably cross the two-thirds threshold needed to thwart the invocation of the anti-defection law.
Kakoli Dastidar's rebellion
Kakoli Dastidar's rebellion against former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began when she re-appointed Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replacing Ghosh Dastidar during a meeting of party MPs. Kalyan Banerjee had replaced Ghosh Dastidar six months ago.
She later resigned from all organisational posts, including as the chairperson of the All India Trinamool Mahila Congress, but retained her position as Lok Sabha MP from Barasat.
As the party grapples with internal conflict, Kakoli Dastidar has been accused of opportunism amid BJP's rise in West Bengal.
Dismissing those charges, she said, “Mera sar katega lekin jhukega nahi... Maine bohot seh liya... I did not come here after Mamata Banerjee became Chief Minister in 2011; I have been fighting here for 40 years. And as I said, the words of such people have absolutely no effect on me.”
She said she has been with Mamata Banerjee for the past 40 years and things have only been getting worse.
“She has been my guide, my mentor and my leader, and I have been with her even in the days when she was not in power. I have contested in five elections and lost before 2009. So it is useless to say that just because she is not in power in West Bengal, I have left. It is not that. I was with her when she was not in power,” she said.
“But at that time, there was a policy which was a pro-people agenda for the poor people of the state of West Bengal... But in the last 3-4 years, the work has been suboptimal. Their development has been suboptimal. A lot of financial irregularities have cropped in which are being proved today.”
She continued: “…the people's verdict has proven what I am trying to tell you. So we want to work for the development of the state and for the national interest and the safety and security of the nation. That is why we want to work separately.”
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