In a statement, the TMC said, “Recently, Mr. Kunal Ghosh has been expressing views that do not align with those of the party. It is important to clarify that these are his personal opinions and should not be attributed to the party. Only statements issued from AITC headquarters should be considered the official position of the party.”
It further said, “Mr. Ghosh was previously relieved from his role as party spokesperson. Now, he has been removed from the position of General Secretary of the state organisation. We urge all media outlets not to conflate his views with those of the party, as doing so may necessitate legal action.”
The decision came after Ghosh was seen participating in a blood donation camp in the city in which BJP candidate from Kolkata Uttar Tapas Roy was a part. Roy quit the TMC in March and joined the BJP. He was made a party candidate for the Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking at the blood donation event, Ghosh said, “Let us keep politics aside today. We tried our best till the last moment to keep him (Roy) in the party. But he chose otherwise. However, Tapas da is an able leader whose house remains open for party workers all the time. He is always available for the people. It is unfortunate that we are going on different paths but I cannot keep him even an inch behind our party candidate Sudip Bandyopadhyay. He is a mass leader.”
Earlier, Ghosh was removed as the party’s state spokesperson after he expressed his displeasure over the candidature of certain TMC leaders for the Lok Sabha polls.
Recently, Ghosh in a cryptic social media post criticised actor and TMC Lok Sabha candidate Dev after the latter spoke in favour of maintaining political courtesy while speaking against opponents.
Sources said the party was not happy with Ghosh targeting Dev who is a two-time MP from Ghatal and seeking a re-election this time.
Reacting to the development, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said, “It is their internal matter. He was previously removed as spokesperson and today he has been removed as state general secretary. Maybe he has been removed due to internal strife. But it is certain that not everything is hunky-dory in the Trinamool Congress.”
There was no immediate reaction from Kunal Ghosh following the party’s decision.
BJP candidate Tapas Roy said he stood by Kunal Ghosh following the development. “Does that mean there is no place for political courtesy in TMC? Today, I went to a local club to attend a blood donation camp. I cannot decide the invitee list of the club. There were people from all walks of life. Kunal was also there. Today, he was removed from a party post. I must not talk about the internal matters of a party. But one cannot talk about democratic values and courtesy and not maintain it in public. This is nothing but TMC promoting its narrow-minded politics,” Roy told mediapersons.