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Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) lawmaker Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has sought Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s permission to file a complaint accusing party colleague Kalyan Banerjee of misogyny and repeated verbal abuse.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accuses Kalyan Banerjee of misogyny amid rift in TMCGhosh Dastidar, in a letter to Birla, alleged that Banerjee has “repeatedly verbally abused” her inside the Lok Sabha chamber. She added: “This misogyny has been against many women members and needs to be punished.”

Two days earlier she stepped down as chief of the TMC’s women’s wing, saying in her resignation letter that the party had been unable to protect her from the abuse of a fellow MP, an apparent reference to Banerjee. He had also replaced her as TMC chief whip in the Lok Sabha.

By stepping down from key posts, Ghosh Dastidar has moved further away from the party. Her formal complaint against Banerjee creates a fresh tussle within the beleaguered TMC.

A senior official in the Lok Sabha said that Birla is out of town but he might look into the issue as it involves a complaint filed by a senior woman lawmaker. As per the procedure, if Birla decides to proceed with the complaint, he has to form an enquiry committee.

To be sure, accusations of misogyny and repeated verbal abuse between party colleagues are rare in the Lok Sabha’s history. The formal complaint lends the matter greater gravity, and with a senior woman MP lodging allegations against another MP, the Speaker will be expected to handle the case with due sensitivity.

Politically, Dastidar further alienates herself with the TMC at a time when there is a spree of resignations of grassroot-level TMC leaders.

On Wednesday, Banerjee had hit back at Dastidar, reminding the media how she took ₹5 lakh in the Narada sting operation and even accused her of supporting illegal syndicates of raw materials suppliers in Kolkata.

Banerjee said in Delhi, “After something happens on the floor, the Speaker must be informed immediately, that is the rule. Any incident must be reported to the Speaker without delay. As for the allegations being made, the question is who said what and when. The problem lies in their intentions. It seems they are acting with a motive, which raises my doubts.”

Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.