4 min readKolkataMay 25, 2026 07:15 AM IST First published on: May 25, 2026 at 07:15 AM ISTDays after Kalyan Banerjee replaced senior TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as the party’s Lok Sabha chief whip, the Barasat MP on Sunday resigned from the post of organisational district president and slammed the decision to hire political consultancy firm I-PAC, which, she said, created “havoc” and “ruined” the party. Dastidar may also step down as MP, her son told The Indian Express.In her resignation letter to TMC West Bengal president Subrata Bakshi, Dastidar took moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in her Barasat constituency and appealed to party chairperson Mamata Banerjee to rely on veteran party workers rather than “external consultants”. She is the second heavyweight TMC leader after Kalyan Banerjee to blame I-PAC for the party’s loss.Advertisement“If there is anyone at the root of the destruction, then it is that organisation (I-PAC). It has completely destroyed everything… I did not appoint them. Only those who appointed it can talk about it. But those little children harassed us, harassed our workers… I have been in politics for the past 40 to 45 years. Now, a young girl of 22 to 23 years from the consultant firm, which finished the party, would come and threaten me. Would dictate what to do and how to do,” Dastidar, one of Mamta’s oldest associates, told mediapersons.Read | Centre provides Y category security to TMC Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh DastidarIn her letter to Bakshi, she wrote: “My appeal to leader Mamata Banerjee is that if you work with the dedicated, old workers, just like in the past. It will brighten the party’s image. I do not think difficult work can be accomplished through fly-by-night agencies.”She also picked holes in the TMC government’s governance in the state. “Recent alarming incidents of crime and corruption in West Bengal have naturally raised questions and anxieties in the minds of the general public. To strengthen democracy further, greater importance must be given to transparency, accountability, commitment, decorum, and responsibility toward the people, along with core values,” she wrote.AdvertisementA day after she was removed as TMC chief whip in Lok Sabha, she wrote on a social media post, “Acquainted since ’76, the journey began in ’84. Today, I have been rewarded for four decades of loyalty.”The post sparked widespread speculation about her future in the party.May quit as MPMeanwhile, the MP’s son Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar said she had also resigned as president of TMC’s women’s wing and added that she might resign as MP. Baidyanath, who is not associated with the TMC, told The Indian Express that scandals of the Mamata Banerjee government took a toll on their family’s reputation.“Out of the seven Assembly seats in Barasat parliamentary constituency, the TMC lost six. So, taking responsibility and standing against the corruption that has been there for the last five to 10 years, my mother has taken a stand,” he said.When asked about his mother’s family-like ties with Mamata Banerjee, he said “personal loyalty could no longer mask issues in the party”.you may like“She (Kakoli) is still close to Mamata Banerjee, but for how long can someone put up with these things? Under Partha Chatterjee, jobs were sold, and many were left unemployed. Jyotipriya Mullick was arrested in ration scam. We all saw the RG Kar incident. We also had to bear the brunt. We are an educated and respectable family. For how long can you put up with a government with so many corruption charges? The fingers are also pointed at us. Because of a personal relationship, my mother has been quiet all this time,” he said.When asked if his mother was planning to join the BJP, Baidyanath said, “It is not about joining the BJP. My mother is taking a stand that she cannot be a part of corruption. She had to take a stand against corruption.”Amid her widening rift with the party leadership, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had recently accorded Y category security cover to her. The security detail was upgraded by the BJP government at the Centre following a threat perception assessment report compiled by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The Centre’s swift move to upgrade her security triggered intense political speculation in West Bengal.