AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh (left) and Ghulam Ahmad Mir (right) accompany former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Noor as she joins the Congress at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on January 3, 2026. Photo credit: PTI
Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Mousam Noor joined the Congress party, which was a major boost for the Congress party.
“West Bengal wants change,” the two-time Lok Sabha MP said after joining the Congress. She had full faith in the Congress leadership and was willing to shoulder whatever responsibility the party offered her, Ms. Noor said.
He hails from the family of Congress leader and late former Union Minister ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury, whose name remains synonymous with the Congress party in Malda district decades after his death.
Ms Noor was a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Malda from the Congress party between 2009 and 2019 before defecting to the Trinamool Congress seven years ago.
She rejoined the Congress at the party headquarters in the presence of senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, Ghulam Ahmed Mir and West Bengal Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar. Her cousin Isha Khan Chowdhury, Congress MP from Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha seat, was also present at the event.
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“I am a member of Barkat sahib’s (ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury) family. I am carrying on his legacy. We had a family discussion and decided to return to Congress,” she said.
She has sent her resignation letter to Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee, Ms. Noor told reporters. She would resign as a Rajya Sabha MP, she added. Her term as a member of the Upper House is likely to end in April 2026.
Despite severing her ties with the Trinamool, Ms. Noor did not make any harsh comments about the party or Ms. Banerjee. “I joined Trinamool a few years ago. Trinamool also gave me an opportunity to work. It made me a Rajya Sabha MP and also gave me the responsibility of district president,” she said.
Ms. Noor is well-known in the state’s Malda district, where the Trinamool Congress has yet to gain political dominance despite being in power in West Bengal for the past 15 years. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool lost both Lok Sabha seats in the district. The Malda Dakshin seat went to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Malda Uttar Lok Sabha seat.
Political observers believe that Ms. Noor’s return will boost the Congress’s prospects in Malda district.
The Congress Party and the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) formed an electoral alliance during the last few elections in West Bengal, but the alliance did not yield electoral results in the state’s highly bipolar politics.
“Our aim is to strengthen the Congress. If the Congress is strong, the alliance will be strong. If the Congress is weak, the alliance will be weak,” Ms. Noor said when asked about the party’s alliance with the Left Front.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 21:27 IST
