The conflict within the Trinamool Congress in Cooch Behar has come out in the open again as Rabindranath Ghosh, the chairman of the Cooch Behar municipality, has refused to step down even after being instructed by Abhijit De Bhowmik, the district president of the party, to do so.

Trinamool is in power at all five municipalities in the Cooch Behar district.

Sources said Bhowmik had recently asked Ghosh to resign within seven days.

In a message to Ghosh, the district president enquired about Ghosh’s well-being and said he should step down from the post.

“The district president asked him (Ghosh) to take necessary steps to implement the party’s decision. He said Trinamool had decided to appoint Dilip Saha, the councillor of ward five, as the next chairman. A special meeting of councillors has been instructed to be convened by the vice-chairman on November 19 to initiate the process of appointing the new chairman, Bhowmik said in the message,” said a source privy to the message.

The directive has sparked strong resentment among senior Trinamool leaders and long-time party workers in Cooch Behar.

On Thursday, Ghosh himself said he wouldn’t heed Bhowmik’s directive.

“I am a loyal follower of Mamata Banerjee. If she asks me to step down, I will do so immediately. But the district president has no authority to ask me to resign. No such instruction has come from the chief minister or the state leadership. The decision on who the chairman or the vice-chairman of a municipality will be is taken by the state, not by the district leaders,” said Ghosh, a former state minister.

In the past few weeks, the state Trinamool leadership has taken the initiative to reshuffle some municipal bodies ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

In a number of civic bodies, the office bearers have been changed and new faces have been brought in.

In Cooch Behar district, the vice-chairman of the Tufanganj municipality has already resigned.

According to Trinamool sources, the changes are being made in municipalities where the party lagged behind in the last Lok Sabha elections. However, many within the party are questioning whether such reshuffles, so close to the Assembly polls, will benefit or harm Trinamool.

The issue has gained additional attention as the traditional Raas Mela, which is organised by the municipality on the occasion of Raas Utsav, is going on. The timing of the order for Ghosh’s removal during the festival has intensified public discussion.

Asked about the reshuffle, Girindranath Barman, the chairman of Trinamool’s Cooch Behar district committee, said: “Neither the state nor the district leadership has informed me of anything regarding these changes. Hence, I cannot comment.”

Bhowmik was brief in his reaction.

“Whenever any change is decided by the party, the same will be announced accordingly,” he said.