Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday hit back at her party colleague Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar over her allegations of verbal abuse within the Lok Sabha, questioning the timing of her complaint and alleging that she was motivated by an “impulse”.
Addressing a press conference, Banerjee said any such incident occurring on the floor of the Assembly should be immediately reported to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and wondered why the complaint was raised later, news agency ANI reported.
Read also | TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh writes to Speaker against party MP Kalyan Banerjee for ‘misogyny’
“Acting on Impulse”: Kalyan Banerjee
TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking permission to file a formal complaint against Banerjee, accusing him of repeatedly verbally abusing her inside Parliament, HT reported earlier on Thursday.
“I seek your permission to file a formal complaint with you for redress against AITC Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee, who repeatedly verbally abused me within the Lok Sabha,” Dastidar wrote in the letter accessed by HT.
Dastidar described the alleged behavior as misogynistic and said the issue extends beyond her individual case. “This misogyny was directed against many members and they should be punished,” she wrote.
Responding to Kakoli Dastidar’s allegations, Banerjee said on Thursday: “After something happens on the ground, the Speaker should be informed immediately, that is the rule. Any incident should be reported to the Speaker without delay. As for the allegations made, the question is who said what and when. The problem is their intentions. They seem to be acting on impulse, which raises my suspicions.”
Read also | TMC’s Kakoli Dastidar alleges ‘verbal abuse and misogyny’ by Kalyan Banerjee in letter to Lok Sabha Speaker
Banerjee vs Dastidar: What happened?
The Bersat MP also raised concerns about the treatment of female parliamentarians, claiming that this behavior reflects a broader pattern within political spheres.
The complaint comes a day after Dastidar resigned from all organizational posts in the Trinamool Congress, including that of president of the party’s women’s wing, citing differences with the leadership and “deep mental conflict and long thinking”.
But she made it clear that she would continue as a member of Parliament and remain in the party as an ordinary worker.
Dastidar had recently skipped several key party events and publicly expressed his concerns about the party’s internal functioning.
In her resignation letter, without naming Banerjee directly, she referred to the behavior of “another uneducated and impudent party MP” whose alleged behavior towards a female MP, she said, was not examined by the party and did not receive adequate support from senior leaders.
“It is not worth remaining in a situation where the inappropriate behavior of another uneducated and rude MP toward a female MP cannot be stopped, or the cooperation and sympathy of senior leadership cannot be obtained,” she wrote.
In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, Dastidar also criticized the party’s performance and termed her removal from the post of TMC Lok Sabha Speaker “tyrannical”.
“It would have been better if you had informed me in advance. Instead of being authoritarian, it would have been better if you had adopted a democratic process,” Dastidar said, referring to party chief Mamata Banerjee.
