New Delhi‘Corruption definitely a key reason for the defeat of TMC’: Kakoli Ghosh DastidarAll India Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday resigned as the party’s Barasat district president, taking moral responsibility for the party’s drubbing in the area. The decision comes days after the party removed her as the chief whip in the Lok Sabha. In an interview, she termed the decision as “authoritarian”, and said that a democratic process should rather have been adopted. Excerpts:Was it an emotional decision or a political move to resign as the district in-charge?It is a well-contemplated decision, taking moral responsibility for the loss of five of seven seats in my district (Barasat). Well, in other districts too, we have suffered losses. But everyone doesn’t have the same level of political thought-process, accountability or family legacy.Is this decision related to your removal as the Lok Sabha chief whip of TMC? No. This was related to the election and the chief whip post was an organisational responsibility. She (Mamata Banerjee) must have thought that by replacing me with someone else, the party can perform better in the Lok Sabha. But it would have been better if she had informed me in advance. instead of being authoritarian, it would have been better if she had adopted a democratic process.Under the new government, a number of TMC councillors and their aides have been arrested for alleged extortion or for illegal properties. This is definitely a key reason for the defeat of TMC. Corruption is a very pertinent issue. The harsh ground reality is that these elected people at the lower level— be it at panchayat or municipality level— these elected people have been extorting money and indulged in all illegal activities. This is the reality. But I must say that while our ground-level leaders are corrupt, our dedicated workers have worked diligently and honestly for the party. In fact our supporters and workers suffered due to these corruption issues.On this issue of corruption, I don’t want to blame our top leadership because even I don’t know what is happening in the ground-level.Do you foresee any major split in the party? I don’t know. I don’t think there would be any major split.