KOLKATA: The spat between two senior Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs intensified further after Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Thursday lodged a complaint with Speaker Om Birla against party colleague Kalyan Banerjee, accusing him of verbally abusing her in Parliament.
The complaint by the four-time MP from Barasat in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district has embarrassed the Trinamool Congress leadership at a time when the party is facing an organisational crisis following its recent Assembly election defeat to the BJP.
In her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Kakoli alleged repeated verbal abuse by Kalyan Banerjee inside the House.
“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,” she wrote.
Calling the alleged behaviour misogynistic, the Barasat MP said the issue extended beyond her personal experience. “This misogyny has been against many lady members and needs to be punished,” she said.
Kalyan Banerjee, a senior advocate and MP from Sreerampore, questioned the timing and motive behind the complaint.
Speaking to reporters, he said any such incident occurring on the floor of the Lok Sabha should be immediately reported to the Speaker.
“The Speaker must be informed immediately after something happens on the floor. That is the rule. Any incident must be reported to the Speaker without any delay,” he said.
“It seems that they are acting with a motive because the problem lies in their intentions. As for the allegations being made, the question is who said what and when,” he added.
Kakoli lodged the complaint less than 24 hours after resigning from all organisational posts she held in the Trinamool Congress. However, she clarified that she would continue as an MP and remain in the party as an ordinary worker.
Three days after stepping down as the Barasat district Trinamool Congress president, Kakoli on Wednesday, resigned from all party portfolios, including the post of national president of the party’s women’s wing.
In a letter to Bengal Trinamool Congress president Subrata Bakshi, she expressed resentment over several issues, including alleged corruption in the Saradha, Naradha and teachers’ recruitment scams, as well as the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. She urged the party leadership to accept her resignation.
Her resignation came a day after she attended Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s administrative review meeting in Kalyani despite alleged instructions from the party not to participate, fuelling speculation that she may join the BJP.
“My conscience is deeply stirred. Scams related to the public distribution system, teachers’ recruitment and other administrative and financial irregularities have generated disappointment and mistrust among common people,” she wrote in the letter.
“The alleged attempt to suppress evidence in connection with the R G Kar Hospital incident has stunned the entire society,” she added.
Kakoli also criticised the party leadership over the role of political consultancy agency I-PAC and referred to the alleged behaviour of an “uneducated, rough MP” towards women members in Parliament.
The MP had recently voiced disappointment after the party’s drubbing in the Assembly elections and her removal as chief whip of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party.
“Known since 1976, started walking together in 1984. I was rewarded for four decades of loyalty,” she had posted on social media on May 15 after her removal from the parliamentary post.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, 78-year-old Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy faced protests and egg-throwing outside Nimta police station in North 24 Parganas district on Thursday, triggering fresh political confrontation between the TMC and BJP ahead of the state’s civic polls.
Roy had visited the police station to submit a deputation alleging attacks on Trinamool councillors in several areas of Nimta and North Dum Dum. Police later escorted him to safety after the situation escalated.
