Kakoli Ghosh’s son sends notice to top TMC leaders, seeks apology over ticket remarks
In notice, Dr Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar rubbishes statements that he sought party ticket from Barasat seat; warns of defamatory proceedings against recipients
Days after Trinamool Congress stalwart Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar severed her ties with the party, her psychiatrist son Dr Baidyanath Ghosh has issued legal notices against senior party leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, demanding an apology for remarks against him over the election ticket.
Dastidar demands apology
Besides former chief minister and party supremo Banerjee, Dastidar has also sent notices to MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Sougata Roy, and Mahua Moitra, as well as party leader Sonali Guha. He has demanded that these leaders issue a public apology and retract their alleged statements in which they claimed Dastidhar sought a party ticket to contest the Barasat Assembly constituency. He has warned of initiating defamation proceedings against the recipients of the notice if his demands are not met.
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In the notice, the psychiatrist has also denied and called “false” claims that he had any interest in contesting the polls from Barasat and was asking for a ticket from that constituency.
Allegations against I-PAC
He also rubbished allegations that political developments linked to his mother had any connection with the denial of a party ticket to him.
He termed baseless and defamatory allegations by Guha that he, his mother, and brother regularly consumed alcohol.
In the notice, Dastidar, instead, claimed that representatives associated with political consultancy activities urged him to consider contesting from Barasat.
He also said that individuals linked to I-PAC, which was handling the election campaign of TMC for the Assembly polls, as well as local student leadership, contacted him multiple times, asking him to take part in political activities and public health outreach programmes.
‘Apologise or face defamation suits’
In the notice, Dastidar has asked the said TMC leaders to stop making statements against him in political discussions, retract the alleged defamatory statements, avoid future references to him, and issue a public apology within 15 days mentioning that he never sought nomination for the polls.
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Ghosh’s mother, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who was among the party’s old guard, recently left the party after resigning from the post of president of the Barasat Parliamentary District.
Her resignation came at a time when the TMC is grappling with a rebellion.
Reshuffle in TMC
In a fresh rejig in the party, barely a week after party positions were reshuffled, Mamata Banerjee replaced lawmaker Saayoni Ghosh with Arnab Banerjee as the party’s youth wing president. The party also replaced on Saturday Kolkata Dakshin MP Mala Roy with Alifa Ahmed, TMC MLA from Kaliganj in Nadia district, as the president of its women's wing, the Trinamool Mahila Congress, PTI quoted sources as saying.
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Both Ghosh and Roy are perceived to have joined the band of TMC's rebel MPs in Lok Sabha amid a major turmoil currently rocking the party, with the dissidents stating they will meet Speaker Om Birla on Monday with a letter to seek recognition as the "real TMC", following the party's electoral drubbing in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls.