KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday nominated Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as the party's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha after accepting Kalyan Banerjee’s resignation from the post.
Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee also nominated Satabdi Roy as the Deputy Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha in place of Ghosh Dastidar with immediate effect, the patry announced in a post on X.
“Shri Kalyan Banerjee submitted his resignation yesterday to the Chairperson from the post of Chief Whip of the @AITCofficial Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha. The Chairperson has accepted his resignation and thank him for his contributions in that role," the statement read.
"In consultation with senior parliamentarians, the Chairperson has nominated Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as the new Chief Whip of the @AITCofficial in the Lok Sabha and Smt. Satabdi Roy as the new Deputy Leader of the AITC in the Lok Sabha with immediate effect,” it added.
Mamata had on Monday appointed Abhishek Banerjee as the leader of the Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha parliamentary party, replacing veteran MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
According to party insiders, the appointment of Ghosh Dastidar as the party’s new Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha has paved the way for Abhishek Banerjee to firm his grip over the TMC’ Parliamentary Party in the lower house of the Parliament as she is known close to him.
Mamata had held a virtual meeting with her party MPs on Monday afternoon, where she reportedly expressed displeasure over Kalyan Banerjee’s performance. She alleged that Banerjee was ineffective in coordinating with fellow party MPs.
Following this, Banerjee -- a Mamata loyalist within TMC’s internal power dynamics -- submitted his resignation from the Chief Whip’s post immediately after the meeting.
While talking to a Bengali news channel after submitting his resignation, Kalyan had also alleged that most Trinamool Congress MPs remain absent in the House.
“Only 10-11 MPs remain present in the House out of 29 members. Someone doing theatre, someone sitting in a corporation and the guilty is Kalyan Banerjee? The MP of Kolkata South does not come to the Lok Sabha. Bankura MP remains absent. I have done most of the work and that’s why the party thinks that I am most ineffective,” he had said, while claiming Mamata Banerjee knows everything.
Without naming fellow party MP Mahua Moitra, Banerjee had also said, “You have all seen the language of an uncultured woman against me. She even claimed that she could buy the party at Rs 200 crore as her husband has so much money.”
Earlier, Banerjee’s verbal battle with Moitra made several headlines.
Referring to Moitra's recent marriage, Banerjee on June 29 had said, “Did she start attacking me after returning home after completing a one-and-a-half-month honeymoon? I respect all women, but I hate Mahua Moitra. I hate the one whom the Ethics Committee of Parliament expels.”
In June this year, Moitra, the TMC MP from Krishnanagar, got married to former Puri MP Pinaki Mishra at a palace in Berlin.
On Sunday, Moitra while reacting to Banerjee’s comments on her marriage with Mishra, said, “You don’t wrestle with a pig. Because the pig likes it and you get dirty. There are deeply misogynistic, sexually frustrated, depraved men in India and they have their representation in parliament across all parties.”
In his response on Tuesday, Banerjee wrote on X: “In 2023, I stood by Ms. Moitra when she was under fire in Parliament — I did so out of conviction, not compulsion. Today, she repays that support by calling me a misogynist. I owe the nation an apology for having defended someone who clearly lacks basic gratitude. Let people see her words for what they are and judge accordingly.”