Trinamool MP, six MLAs join Suvendu rally, say ‘it’s for development’

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar was removed as Parliamentary Party Chief and replaced by Kalyan Banerjee in August 2025. Photo credit: The Hindu

Trinamool Congress leader and four-term MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and several Trinamool Congress MLAs attended a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in North 24 Parganas on Tuesday.

After being sworn in as West Bengal’s first chief minister of the Bhartaiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr Adhikari held administrative meetings in several districts and said MPs and MLAs from opposition parties could join the meetings, a departure from tradition under the Trinamool Congress regime.

The presence of Ms. Ghosh Dastidar, a four-time Trinamool Congress MP from the Barasat Lok Sabha seat, drew strong reactions from political circles as the MP had recently stepped down from her position as Trinamool organizational district president for Barasat. Recently, Ms. Ghosh Dastidar was replaced by Kalyan Banerjee as the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha. “Administration is for everyone,” the Trinamool leader said when asked about her presence in the meeting.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the development and said that in the previous regime, even the local police station commander would not take calls from opposition party MPs.

“This culture needed to change. A number of MLAs from Basirhat joined today. We gave an opportunity for MLAs to speak. We want to work together for development. There should be no political bickering here except elections,” the chief minister said.

Deganga’s Trinamool MLA Anisur Rahman Bidesh, Baduria MLA Burhan-ul-Mukaddin (Liton), Swarupnagar MLA Bina Mandal, Basirhat South MLA Surjit Mitra (Badal), Minakha’s Usharani Mandal and Haroa MLA Abdul Matin were newly elected at the meeting. Most of the Trinamool Congress MLAs said they attended the meeting as they were invited by the state government and there was no word from the party against attending the meeting.

Later in the day when Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari met West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Rathindranath Bose, two Trinamool Congress MLAs Ritabarata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha were seen in the speaker’s room.

Before this Trinamool MLA Ritabarata Banerjee had a chance meeting with the Chief Minister at Banga Bhawan during his visit to Delhi. The Trinamool legislators who are making a beeline to meet Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari are not just aiming to exchange pleasantries but represent the discontent in the Trinamool Congress after the party suffered a humiliating defeat by the BJP in the assemblies.

Another Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy added to the Trinamool Congress’ discomfort with a cryptic post referring to the assassination of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar.

“In 44 BC, the Roman Emperor Julius Ceaser was stabbed to death in the senate on the Ides of March. According to the Roman calendar, the Ides generally meant 15 March, May, July and October. But before the Ides of May, the people of West Bengal ended an intolerable state of anarchy,” said Mr Roy.

The Trinamool MP had earlier expressed dissent during protests against the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Hospital in August 2024, but later mended his relationship with the party leadership.

Published – 26 May 2026 17:13 IST