# Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar quits as Barasat TMC chief over poll rout 2026-08-08T16:18:48+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar resigned as president of the party's Barasat organisational district unit on Sunday, taking moral responsibility for the party's poor showing in the 2026 Assembly elections. In her resignation letter to state TMC chief Subrata Bakshi, she indirectly criticised the party's poll strategy and took a swipe at political consultancy firm I-PAC without naming it, warning that 'mushrooming organisations' would not bring success and urging reliance on honest grassroots workers. The resignation follows TMC's major losses in North 24 Parganas, including several Assembly segments in Barasat and Barrackpore. Dastidar, a three-time MP from Barasat, was recently removed as chief whip in the Lok Sabha and replaced by Kalyan Banerjee. She had expressed disappointment on social media, saying four decades of loyalty to the party had been rewarded that way. ## Coverage - millenniumpost.in Tags: Assembly elections 2026, Barasat, I-PAC, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Trinamool Congress, West Bengal politics Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kakoli-ghosh-dastidar-quits-as-barasat-tmc-chief-over-poll-rout/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kakoli-ghosh-dastidar-quits-as-barasat-tmc-chief-over-poll-rout/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.