Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claims 20 TMC MPs want NDA entry, attacks party leadership

Published 8 June 2026 · politics

A claim that 20 Trinamool Congress MPs want to break away and align with the NDA has plunged West Bengal politics into fresh turmoil, with

A claim that 20 Trinamool Congress MPs want to break away and align with the NDA has plunged West Bengal politics into fresh turmoil, with senior MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accusing her party of lawlessness, misgovernance and losing touch with the masses. The veteran parliamentarian, who has been associated with Mamata Banerjee since 1984, said the rebel MPs had already informed the Speaker of their decision to sit separately and seek alignment with the NDA. Read Full Story "We are twenty of us who are dissatisfied with the functioning of our party inside the Lok Sabha and on the ground in the state of West Bengal," Dastidar said in an interview with India Today. "We have written to the Honorable Speaker that we want to be a part of the NDA." "We accept the people's mandate of West Bengal, who have given us clear verdict against the ruling dispensation, against the anarchy, against the cut money, against the lawlessness, against the misgovernance. So we have decided. Twenty of us. We have written to the Honorable Speaker that we want to be a part of the NDA." Dastidar, who resigned from TMC in May, also did not rule out the possibility of an eventual merger with the BJP. Asked whether the rebel faction could formally join the saffron party, she replied: "The possibility remains, but let us see what happens." NDA ENTRY, BJP MERGER NOT RULED OUT Asked whether the rebel MPs intended to merge with the BJP or form a separate political entity, Dastidar stopped short of giving a definitive answer but left the door open to a future merger.

"We are at the moment part of the NDA, and we've just given in the letter, so we'll have to wait for the decision from their side," she said. When pressed on whether a merger with the BJP was a possibility, she replied: "The possibility remains, but let us see what happens." Her comments come amid reports that several dissident TMC leaders recently met senior BJP leaders, including Union minister Bhupender Yadav and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. 'DOES THAT SHOW KAKOLI DI IS AN OPPORTUNIST?' Rejecting allegations that the revolt was motivated by electoral setbacks or political opportunism, Dastidar pointed to her four-decade association with Mamata Banerjee. "I started with her in the year 1984," she said. "I lost four elections with her, or rather I think five elections till 2005, but I was with her till today. So does it show that Kakoli Di is an opportunist?" Recalling her political journey, she said she had endured violence and intimidation while working for the party. "I have been beaten blue on the road. I have been locked up in rooms during election with a gun pointed at my head." Dastidar noted that she contested multiple elections for the party before securing her first victory in 2009. RG KAR CASE BECAME A TURNING POINT The MP suggested that the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year had become a major factor in her disillusionment with the party.