TMC rift deepens: Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accuses Kalyan Banerjee of misogyny

Cracks within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) widened further on Thursday after party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accused senior colleague Kalyan Banerjee of verbally abusing her inside Parliament and displaying “misogynistic” behaviour towards women MPs.

In a formal communication to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, the Barasat MP sought permission to lodge an official complaint against Banerjee and demanded action over his alleged conduct.

“I seek your permission to lodge a formal complaint to you for redressal against Lok Sabha Member of AITC Kalyan Banerjee, who has repeatedly verbally abused me inside the Lok Sabha,” Ghosh Dastidar wrote in her letter.

“This misogyny has been against many lady members and needs to be punished,” she added.

Neither Banerjee nor the Trinamool Congress leadership immediately reacted to the allegations.

The complaint comes amid growing signs of internal turmoil within the TMC following the party’s setback in the recent Assembly elections, with dissent increasingly spilling into the public domain.

The latest flashpoint surfaced barely a day after Ghosh Dastidar resigned from all organisational posts within the party while launching a sharp attack on sections of the leadership. She, however, continues as the MP from Barasat, a seat she won on a TMC ticket.

Her recent remarks had exposed simmering tensions inside the ruling party in West Bengal. Ghosh Dastidar publicly raised concerns over alleged corruption, the handling of the R G Kar rape-murder case and the growing influence of political consultancy firm I-PAC within the party structure.

The controversy intensified after she attended an administrative review meeting chaired by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in Kalyani, despite reported instructions from the party leadership to stay away.

Kalyan Banerjee, the four-time MP from Sreerampur and one of the TMC’s most outspoken parliamentarians, has frequently been at the centre of political controversies because of his remarks and confrontational style, both inside and outside Parliament.

The latest episode has once again brought internal friction within the TMC into focus. In recent months, public disagreements involving senior leaders such as Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad and Kalyan Banerjee have fuelled speculation over widening divisions within the party after its electoral reversal.

Despite the mounting controversies, the TMC leadership has maintained publicly that the party remains united and that differences among leaders are isolated incidents.

With PTI inputs