'He Abused Me, He Needs To Be Punished': TMC's Kakoli Dastidar Accuses Colleague Kalyan Banerjee Of 'Misogyny'

Kolkata: A day after resigning from her party posts, TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has levelled serious allegations against colleague Kalyan Banerjee, claiming that he verbally abused her in the Lok Sabha. Notably, this comes days after Kakoli was removed as the party's chief whip in the lower house and was replaced by Kalyan Banerjee. The change came after TMC's landslide defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, with the subject being ‘Complain Against Abuse’. In the letter, she noted that apart from verbally abusing her, Kalyan Banerjee has a history of misogynistic behaviour with other female MPs as well. 

The letter read, “I seek your permission to lodge a formal complain to you for redressal against Lok Sabha Member of AITC Kalyan Banerjee, who has repeatedly verbally abused me inside the Lok Sabha. This misogyny has been against many lady members and needs to be punished.”

Her complaint comes a day after she resigned as the president of All India Trinamool Mahila Congress wing. In her resignation letter, she stated that it is not worth staying in a position where the indecent behavior of an “uneducated and rude” party MP towards a woman MP cannot be stopped.

This was being perceived as a veiled reference to TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.

Kalyan Banerjee Responds

Responding to the allegations made against him by Kakoli Dastidar, Kalyan Banerjee questioned about the intention behind the complaint, saying it seems that “there is a motive”. “As for the allegations being made, the question is who said what and when. The problem lies in their intentions. It seems they are acting with a motive, which raises my doubts," he said.

He further reasoned that if I had made any disrespectful remarks during an active session of Parliament, why was the matter not immediately brought to the notice of the Speaker at that very moment. “Kakoli Madam certainly has every right to raise a complaint, but it is equally important to clarify when exactly the alleged incident took place and why no objection was raised then,” he questioned.

He further claimed that in the changing political climate, there appears to be an “unhealthy competition” among the so-called “good Trinamool leaders” over who can attack the Trinamool Congress more aggressively in order to appear morally superior.

Kalyan Banerjee's Dig At Kakoli

Earlier, Kakoli resigned from the post of TMC's Barasat organisational district president, stating she was taking moral responsibility for TMC's electoral defeat in Barasat. She also seemed to blame the party for hiring political consultancy firm I-PAC.

Thereafter, Kalyan Banerjee allegedly took a dig, writing on X, “May your journey ahead be smooth and comfortable. Wishing you and your family a wonderful future ahead. Perhaps now, at long last, all the stains and controversies surrounding you will finally be washed away and neatly erased. Best wishes — may this new chapter succeed where all the previous explanations failed.”

‘Anti-Women’: Banerjee's Past Misogynistic Remarks Against Mahua Moitra

This is not the first time Kalyan Banerjee has been accused of being misogynistic. Last year, he made some objectionable comments against his colleague Mahua Moitra.

After she married BJD ex-MP Pinaki Mishra, Banerjee called her “anti-woman”, accusing her of breaking Mishra's first marriage.

His remarks came after Moitra called Banerjee “anti-woman” after the latter, while talking about a gang rape case, said, "If a friend rapes another friend, then how will the government ensure protection in such cases?" 

Responding to this, he said, “Anti-woman, she has charged it? What she is? She has broken up a 40-year marriage and married a guy of 65 years...Did she not hurt the lady? Women of the country will decide it.”