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Another jolt to Mamata as TMC's Santanu Sen quits party post day after Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
Santanu Sen resignation, addressed to Mamata Banerjee, stated that his mind no longer agrees to support TMC as a national spokesperson on “immoral acts”.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Dr Santanu Sen reportedly resigned on Thursday as party national spokesperson, a development that comes a day after Mamata Banerjee-led outfit's Kakoli Dastidar Ghosh stepped down from all her posts.
Citing the 2024 RG Kar rape-murder case and corruption, Santanu Sen's resignation, addressed to party president Mamata Banerjee, stated that his mind no longer agrees to support the party as a national spokesperson on “immoral acts”.
"...Even though I did not agree with views during various difficult times, I have fought publicly for the party in the media on many controversial issues, for which the common people have often spoken highly of me. But in the current situation, when the people of Bengal have rejected us for various immoral acts and corruption, including the RG Kar case, the Abhaya case, and cash for job corruption, my mind no longer agrees to support them as a spokesperson in any way. Therefore, I want to resign from the post of All India Spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress, taking the verdict of the people into consideration. Please accept and honour my resignation," stated the resignation, shared by ANI news agency.
A day earlier, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar resigned as chief of the party’s women’s wing. In her resignation letter, she said the party had failed to protect her from the abuse of a fellow MP, indirectly referring to Kalyan Banerjee.
Banerjee had also replaced her as the Trinamool Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha.
While Ghosh Dastidar has increasingly distanced herself from the party by stepping down from key organisational positions, a complaint filed against colleague Kalyan Banerjee opened a new front in the internal turmoil within the embattled Trinamool Congress.
Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC lost power to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won a massive mandate in the recently concluded West Bengal elections 2026. The BJP won 207 of the 293 seats that were counted on May 4 and also bagged the Falta constituency, where repolling was held on May 21.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Thursday sought Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s permission to file a formal complaint against party colleague Kalyan Banerjee, accusing him of misogyny and repeated verbal abuse.
In a letter to Birla, cited in an earlier HT report, Dastidar alleged that Banerjee had “repeatedly verbally abused” her inside the Lok Sabha chamber. She further wrote that “this misogyny has been against many lady members and needs to be punished.”
On Wednesday, Kalyan Banerjee hit out at Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, reminding the media about her alleged acceptance of ₹5 lakh in the Narada sting operation and accusing her of backing illegal syndicates involved in the supply of raw materials in Kolkata.
