The TMC had on Wednesday removed him as the state general secretary and star campaigner after he shared the stage with BJP’s Kolkata Uttar candidate Tapas Ray at a programme. The statement announcing the party’s action was issued by O’Brien.

Following the meeting, Basu said, “Discussions were held to strengthen the organisation and fight the BJP unitedly. There is no bad blood.” “If you have just started treating a wound, it is not possible to say immediately after how many days it would heal. Wait and watch what will happen,” he added. When reporters asked Ghosh about the meeting, he sang the popular Bengali song “aha ki anondo akashe batashe (happiness in air)”.

Ghosh, a former journalist who has had a chequered relationship with the TMC over the last decade, is considered close to Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary and heir apparent.

He has been vocal against TMC’s Kolkata Uttar candidate Sudip Bandopadhyay ever since he was re-nominated. His views were echoed by Ray who eventually gave up his Assembly membership from Baranagar, and joined the BJP which gave him a ticket against Bandopadhyay.

Ghosh had also alleged that apart from former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, another state minister was involved in the school jobs ‘scam’.