Former Trinamul Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh persisted with his scathing attack on the party’s Calcutta North MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Sunday as he held the legislator responsible for the exit of Sajal Ghosh, who joined the BJP.

Despite the senior leadership’s intense discomfort with the party’s dirty linen being washed in public and censuring of Ghosh – deemed till days ago a mouthpiece of Trinamul leader Abhishek Banerjee, he continued to attack Bandyopadhyay, the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.

“I made every effort to keep Sajal in the party, but Sudip did not allow it. You are such a prominent leader that you won’t let Sajal stay in the party, but when Sajal takes an opposite stance, you and your wife (Chowringhee MLA Nayna Bandyopadhyay) won’t be able to defeat him,” said Ghosh, referring to the Trinamul turncoat now in the BJP as a Calcutta Municipal Corporation councillor, with the strong likelihood of being fielded as a Lok Sabha candidate.

In response, Sajal Ghosh: “However, for a welcome change, these two statements are true. He did make efforts to keep me in their party until the very end, and Sudip truly does not allow anyone under or around him to work. But Trinamul is now in the past, and I despise it.”

Sources in Trinamul said Kunal Ghosh’s activities were not taken kindly to by the supreme leadership and a showcause was being mulled.

“Such behaviour is unexpected from a senior, responsible leader, more so just before the Lok Sabha polls. Trinamul Congress operates like a large family, and while differences among family members are anticipated, it is not appropriate to air them so publicly. This sends a negative message to the public,” said a senior Trinamul leader.

Asked about the showcause possibility, Kunal Ghosh — at a Trinamul workers’ meeting in Tollygunge — said: “I shall accept it as a love letter. I can be disciplined but I cannot be chained down.”

“I am a dedicated worker of Trinamul and I shall remain so. If the party doesn’t throw me out, I will be working for the party. I am not a traitor.”

Tapas Roy

Speculation was rife on Sunday over the likelihood of Trinamul’s Baranagar MLA Tapas Roy — a north Calcutta veteran who has been virtually echoing Kunal Ghosh on the Calcutta North MP — quitting the party. Roy has purportedly been unresponsive to calls and text messages from the supreme leadership for over a day, and emissaries were deployed to mediate. The 68-year-old has been bitterly displeased with the MP for some time.