The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday removed Kunal Ghosh from the post of State General Secretary.
This came soon after Ghosh heaped praise on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the Kolkata-Uttar Lok Sabha constituency, Tapas Roy, who recently quit the TMC and also shared the stage with him at a public programme in South Kolkata.
An All India Trinamool Congress statement, signed by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said that views expressed by Ghosh “do not align with” the party and should not be attributed to the party.
“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,” the statement read.
“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 organization. We urge all media outlets not to conflate his views with those of the party, as doing so may necessitate legal action,” it added.
TMC removes Kunal Ghosh from the post of General Secretary of the state organization for "expressing views that do not align with those of the party". pic.twitter.com/bGZkmyUqMP
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2024
Hitting back at O’Brien, by allegedly calling him “quizmaster”, Ghosh said that he had quit from the post of spokesperson and General Secretary some time back and there was no need to issue a press release.
“I have resigned from the post of spokesperson and General Secretary and tweeted about it. I had removed these designations from my ‘X’ handle. If anyone says that they have removed me, this cannot be right,” Ghosh said speaking to ANI on Wednesday.
Questioning the need for the press release, he said, “There is no meaning of this press release that they are removing me because I can show you that I have already resigned from the post.”
Responding to a question from the reporter about the reason for such action, the TMC leader said, “It is better to ask them.”
When asked if he has heard anything in this regard from the party high command, he said, “I have not received any official letter till now over e-mail or Whatsapp. But I have come across a press release.”
“When I got informed that the press release is being typed I switched off my phone and went to sleep. Now I have switched on my phone and I will go through my messages,” he said.
Clarifying that he continues to stay with the TMC, Ghosh said, “I am a Trinamool worker, Trinamool worker and I want to continue as Trinamool grassroot soldier.”
On his earlier taunt at O’Brien, calling him a ‘quizmaster’, Ghosh said, “I have seen the signature. So I guessed that it may be the sign of a quizmaster.”
Derek O’Brien shot to fame as a successful quizmaster and has hosted several popular quiz shows before entering politics.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)