Kolkata, Jan 22: Months ahead of the Bengal assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) expelled its MLA Baishali Dalmiya for “anti-party activities” on Friday. Baishali Dalmiya represents the Bally assembly constituency in West Bengal.
The decision to expel her from the party was taken at TMC’s disciplinary committee.
Baishali Dalmiya said, “Instead of acting against termites within the party, the TMC leadership is acting against honest people.”
She said she won’t quit the post of MLA and also didn’t rule out the possibility of joining the BJP.
Of late, Baishali Dalmiya has been publicly speaking against a section of the TMC leadership. She had also claimed that there is no place for “honest and sincere people in the party”.
In a statement, the TMC said that its disciplinary committee met on Friday and decided to expel Dalmiya from the party.
Her expulsion came hours after senior TMC leader Rajib Banerjee resigned from the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, joining the growing list of dissenters who have put the ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the assembly election. Dalmiya criticized the party leadership for Banerjee’s resignation also.
Baishali joined the Trinamool shortly after her father’s death in 2016 and was given a ticket to contest the Assembly election from Bally in Howrah district.
This isn’t the first she struck a discordant note as earlier this month, she spoke against the party leadership after another sitting minister and former cricketer Laxmiratan Shukla stepped down.
Trinamool’s Howrah Town district chairman Arup Roy, defended the move to expel Baishali, saying, “It is the right decision. Those who speak against the party and malign its image should be dealt with in this manner.”
