Who is Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, leading the TMC revolt against Mamata Banerjee in Bengal?

Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) is facing one of the biggest crises in its history after its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections last month. One after another, leaders of the party are revolting against the supremo and former Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, widely referred to as "Didi" (Elder sister).

At the centre of the crisis unfolding within the TMC is its senior leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who has now emerged as the face of a major rebellion within the party's parliamentary ranks.

On Monday (June 8), Rebel Dastidar made a stunning claim that around 20 party MPs had sought to align with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and had submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Sources told CNN-News18 that she is likely to lead the breakaway faction.

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But who is she? We take a look.

Who is Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar?

Considered as one of the party's most senior leaders, Dastidar serves as national president of the All India Trinamool Mahila Congress, the women's wing of the TMC. She is a doctor by profession.

Her relationship with Mamata Banerjee goes back nearly five decades. Dastidar happens to be the former Bengal CM's oldest political associate.

Her political career began in the Congress student movement in Kolkata. At Kolkata Medical College, she was an active participant in student politics. At that time, Mamata Banerjee was building her own profile at Jogamaya Devi College.

Dastidar and Banerjee's association deepened after 1984, when TMC supremo surprised political observers by routing veteran Somnath Chatterjee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Lok Sabha election from Jadavpur, Moneycontrol reported.

Over the years, Dastidar emerged as a prominent organisational leader within the party and one of its most visible women representatives.

She has represented the Barasat Lok Sabha constituency multiple times, securing election victories in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 general elections, and has consistently spoken in Parliament on issues related to public health and social welfare.

Dastidar also served as deputy leader of the TMC parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha. She was later appointed as the chief whip after Kalyan Banerjee stepped down from the post following a public spat with Mahua Moitra last year.

However, after being replaced by Kalyan Banerjee as chief whip, her relationship with the party leadership appeared to be in a state of rift. Today, Dastidar has become Banerjee's biggest political challenge.

Apart from her political career, Dastidar has a background in medicine. She has established a strong presence within the party as both a parliamentarian and a senior organisational leader.

Is the TMC party on the brink of collapse?

The crisis within the TMC has deepened.

What began as a rebellion among MLAs in West Bengal following the party’s defeat in the Assembly polls has now spread to Parliament, with resignations and open dissent.

Arguably, the most dangerous development to date has now occurred: a report suggests that around 20 Trinamool MPs, including Dastidar, have announced that a group of 20 MPs has approached the LS speaker, Birla, seeking separate seating arrangements in Parliament.

“Mera sar katega lekin jhukega nahi... Maine bohot seh liya... I did not come here after Mamata Banerjee became chief minister in 2011; I have been fighting here for 40 years. And as I said, the words of such people have absolutely no effect on me," Dastidar told ANI, rejecting the allegations of opportunism.

"...We are 20 MPs who have requested the Speaker for separate seating, and we will be working in conjunction with the Central and State Government for the development of West Bengal," she added.

Since Barasat MP was replaced as whip by Kalyan Banerjee, she has been on the warpath. Shortly after that, Dastidar resigned from her party post, slamming the decision, NDTV reported.

After the Bengal 2026 assembly poll, a lot has changed on the ground as well. TMC's senior leader and Banerjee's nephew was targeted by mobs days ago.

Reports suggest that TMC's top brass has been speaking against the party. Around 100 councillors have quit, and many have begun addressing former Bengal CM - referred to earlier only as "Didi" (Elder sister) - by her name.

With inputs from agencies