Yusuf Pathan Among Dissidents, Claims TMC Rebel Kakoli Ghosh | Exclusive

Published 8 June 2026 · politics

Yusuf Pathan Among Dissidents, Claims TMC Rebel Kakoli Ghosh | Exclusive Published By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 23:50 IST Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claims 20

Yusuf Pathan Among Dissidents, Claims TMC Rebel Kakoli Ghosh | Exclusive Published By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 23:50 IST Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claims 20 TMC MPs, including Yusuf Pathan, back a rebellion supporting the NDA. Defending the rebellion, Dastidar said the decision stemmed from growing dissatisfaction with the party's functioning over the past several years. (Image: ANI) Amid the escalating rebellion within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), senior party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Monday claimed that former cricketer and TMC parliamentarian Yusuf Pathan was among the MPs backing the dissident camp that has decided to support the BJP-led Democratic Alliance (NDA). Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Dastidar asserted that 20 TMC MPs had joined the rebellion and said she could identify all of them if required. “I can name all one by one. We are 20 MP’s but I don’t want to do that," she said, while indicating that Pathan was among those aligned with the group. Defending the rebellion, Dastidar said the decision stemmed from growing dissatisfaction with the party’s functioning over the past several years.

“It’s in public what the party has been doing for the last 3 to 4 years. For a person like me, who is at 67 years of age and has been with Mamata Banerjee for 40 years, I was not expecting these events." Referring to the RG Kar rape-murder case, Dastidar alleged that “all evidence is destroyed by a particular person who belongs to the party and still has not been booked and is being supported," adding that “such a crime has never happened in the world." “Besides that, there is no development, there is no industry. Everything has been lopsided. The film industry, the persons, the educationists, appointments in the education sector, appointments in the municipal sector, everything has been tampered with and that is coming to the front. We didn’t expect this, so I was very unhappy for the past few years. In spite of these issues, we were not given a chance to improve the whole system and the people of the state have a point.

They have given a verdict against this. To respect the verdict of the people of Bengal, I have sided with the people of Bengal. Along with me, 19 MPs have signed the document," she remarked. She also dismissed criticism from party loyalists, saying, “Let me tell you one thing. You said that there are certain people who have been with Mamata Banerjee for a very long time. None of these people were around when Mamata Banerjee started in 1976. I think the woman who is tweeting from some foreign country was not even born at that time. She was not a politician then, and she is still not a politician. She is a woman seeking media attention for her own publicity." “And people are looking for airtime and self-promotion in the media, but they don’t have any strength. I don’t consider them political people. They were not even born when I started. In my family, we had seven Members of Parliament and Rajya Sabha members.