Two trusted Trinamool lieutenants in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation quit civic positions assigned by the party on Wednesday and rolled out a litany of charges against leaders of the previous regime who have gone missing since the election results.

Sushanta Ghosh, councillor of Ward 108 and once close enough to Mamata Banerjee to serve as her chief election agent in Nandigram, resigned as chairperson of Borough XII.

Arup Chakraborty, councillor of Ward 98 and a prominent party face on television debates ahead of the elections, quit as a member of the municipal accounts committee.

Both leaders directed their anger at former ministers who had wielded power during the Trinamool regime but were now absent while party workers faced attacks and were unable to return home. Both also said the electoral verdict showed that people had rejected Trinamool. Ghosh thanked local BJP leaders for helping some Trinamool workers return home.

“We are quitting our posts, but not resigning as councillors. People elected us as councillors for five years. We will continue to work as councillors,” Ghosh said at the councillors’ club room in the KMC headquarters, with Chakraborty seated beside him. “I am apologising to my party. In the current political situation, it seems best to resign. It is better that those elected by the people continue their work. People have told us to rest for some time,” he said.

Many had alleged that Chakraborty was unhappy after being denied a ticket to contest the Assembly elections. Ghosh, too, is known to have longstanding grievances against party colleagues for overlooking him.

Both leaders trained their guns on former ministers. “Where are the ministers who used to move around with Z-plus security? Where are they now, when ordinary party workers have not been able to return home after the polls?” Chakraborty asked.

Ghosh, whose Ward 108 includes parts of Kasba and Anandapur, said: “Nearly 150 people from my ward are living away from their homes. The former ministers did not come to their rescue. I want to thank the BJP’s local leadership, which helped them return.”

Chakraborty alleged that Mamata Banerjee had become inaccessible because of the ministers and celebrities surrounding her. “It was impossible to reach Mamata-di. How many MLAs did you see near her on the dais? The celebrities and other faces who swarmed around her have fled,” he said.

The two also hinted that much of the post-poll violence against Trinamool workers was being carried out by people trying to switch allegiance to the BJP. “Those who joined the BJP after the results are taking part in the violence,” Chakraborty said.

Ghosh said the BJP was not involved in the widely publicised attack on his office at the Ruby crossing after the election results were announced. “No one from the BJP was part of the attack,” he said.