Trinamool MLA arrested, several leaders quit party post

Photo: X/@DilipMondalAITC

After days of evading the police, Trinamool Congress MLA from Bishnupur Dilip Mondal was arrested by the West Bengal Police from Puri in Odisha on Wednesday (May 27, 2026). The MLA is likely to be brought to the city in transit custody.

A Trinamool Congress MLA allegedly threatened Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers during the West Bengal Assembly elections and a police complaint was lodged against him. For the past two weeks, the West Bengal police have been searching for the MLA and even arrested his son. Mr. Mondal is the first sitting MLA to be arrested by the West Bengal Police.

Since the BJP came to power in West Bengal, the police have made nearly a hundred arrests, most of which involved local Trinamool Congress workers facing allegations of corruption and post-election violence in the 2021 assembly elections. Not only the police, but also the executive directorate arrested former minister Sujit Bose for his alleged role in the municipal recruitment scam.

Mass dismissals

As Trinamool leaders face arrests across the state, there have also been mass resignations. A day after attending a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, senior Trinamool Congress leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar today resigned from all organizational portfolios of the party. The four-year MP wrote a letter to Trinamool state president Subrata Bakshi urging him to accept her resignation letter. Dr Ghosh Dastidar is not the only Trinamool leader who has resigned from the organizational post, several Trinamool Congress councilors have resigned from the post. On Wednesday (May 27, 2026), Trinamool leaders Sushanta Ghosh and Arup Chakraborty resigned from their posts in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

A large amount of cash was recovered from the property of Dipankar Bhattacharya, chairman of Baduria village. Mr Bhattacharya was arrested a few days ago, but on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) investigators found cash in several suitcases buried on farmland owned by the Trinamool leader.

The Trinamool leadership faces another challenge that despite being the main opposition party in the state with 80 MLAs, no seat has been allocated for Leader of Opposition Sovandeb Chattopadhyay in the State Assembly premises.

On Wednesday (May 27, 2026), Mr. Chattopadhyay along with Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh staged a protest outside West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose’s hall for allegedly not meeting them. “We have come to meet the speaker… Our senior MLA is sitting here to talk to the speaker… This is democracy…” Mr Ghosh said. The Trinamool leadership is upset that Sovandeb Chattopadhyay was not allotted any seat in the assembly premises.

Published – 27 May 2026 23:47 IST