A factional feud has erupted within the Trinamool Congress in Cooch Behar following the directive issued to party veteran Rabindranath Ghosh to step down as chairman of the Cooch Behar municipality.

District Trinamool president Abhijit De Bhowmik had instructed Ghosh to resign by November 19. As of Wednesday evening, Ghosh has not stepped down.

“If chief minister Mamata Banerjee asks me to resign, I will do so immediately. I am not ready to obey any instruction from the district leaders,” Ghosh had said after Bhowmik’s communiqué to him.

As he continued to work as the civic chairman, unlike heads of some other municipalities of the district who stepped down following Bhowmik's instructions, the party has virtually split into two camps.

A section of leaders is backing Ghosh, a former minister who had been the district party president for 22 years since 1998, that is, the party's formation. Another section, however, has sided with Bhowmik.

On Monday, Ghosh loyalists held a meeting at the residence of Partha Pratim Roy, the party’s spokesperson in the district and a former MP.

Khokon Mian, the district president of the Trinamool farmers’ wing, convened the meeting. Ghosh was present there.

At the meeting, it was decided that a letter describing the entire situation would be sent to the chief minister. Sources said the letter, with the signatures of around 500–600 people, would be sent to her through the party’s state president Subrata Bakshi.

“In Cooch Behar, Rabindranath Ghosh is a pillar of the party. We will not allow any attempt to remove him. If he is removed, we will not hesitate to take alternative decisions,” said Mian, without clarifying what the “alternative decisions” might be.

A group of district leaders led by Bhowmik, north Bengal development minister Udayan Guha, and around 15 party councillors of Cooch Behar municipality, held a closed-door meeting on Tuesday at the district party office.

Though no official statements were made about the discussions, speculation began about a possible no-confidence motion against Ghosh. Still, by Wednesday afternoon, no such move had been initiated.

Over the past couple of weeks, office bearers of a number of civic bodies have been changed, especially in areas where Trinamool did not perform well at the Lok Sabha polls of 2024. In Cooch Behar, it was decided to replace chairpersons in five out of six municipalities.

Political analysts believe that Bhowmik could not have taken such a decision without the state leadership's approval.

“Internal differences within Trinamool are why the party has performed poorly in some of the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Cooch Behar. The party should address the issue immediately as a fresh rift has cropped up,” said an observer.

The saffron camp in Cooch Behar was quick to mock the ruling party over its internal feud.

“In Cooch Behar, Trinamool is run by leaders who have come from other parties— Udayan Guha from the Forward Bloc, Abhijit De Bhowmik from the Congress, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia (the Cooch Behar MP) from the Left Front. These leaders have sidelined the original Trinamool workers and leaders,” said a BJP leader in the district.