The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Tuesday appointed Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as its new chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replacing Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee, who had stepped down a day earlier.
Ghosh Dastidar was earlier the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.
Actor-turned-politician and four-time Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy was also named deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.
The announcements came a day after Abhishek Banerjee was elevated as the new TMC leader in the Lower House, replacing Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who has been unwell.
The party confirmed the appointments in a post on X, stating, “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.”
It added, “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.”
Both Ghosh Dastidar and Roy are four-time MPs and seen as close to chief minister and party chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who made the announcements during a virtual meeting with TMC’s Lok Sabha MPs on Monday.
Kalyan Banerjee’s exit from the post was not without drama. Speaking after the meeting, he indicated that his resignation was prompted by concerns raised by Mamata Banerjee over lack of coordination in the Lower House.
“Mamata didi complained in the meeting that proper coordination is not happening in the Lok Sabha. That means I am not doing my job. Sudip Bandyopadhyay is not attending the session. There is no one else. Kakali (Ghosh Dastidar, the deputy chief whip) attends some times. Others are not regular. I have to attend court as well. Not possible for me to continue in both positions,” Banerjee said.
His resignation comes after months of tension between him and Mahua Moitra, the Krishnanagar MP.
According to Trinamool sources, Abhishek had tried to pacify the belligerent Kalyan, who is also the state’s legal counsel in several important litigations, last evening and reportedly requested him to lie low.
But the Serampore MP did not seem to be in a mood to stay silent.
“In 2023, I stood by 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,” Kalyan wrote in another post on X on Tuesday.
Trinamool sources said soon after Mamata conveyed to Abhishek, the new leader in the Lok Sabha to accept Kalyan’s resignation. He will however continue as an MP.
Mahua Moitra took to X to congratulate her colleagues.
“Heartfelt congratulations to my senior colleagues @kakoligdastidar & @SatabdiRoyMP for being nominated Chief Whip & Deputy Leader of AITC in Lok Sabha. God bless & shine on!”
