The Trinamool Congress on Friday expelled its Bally MLA Baishali Dalmiya, after she publicly criticised a section of the party’s leadership earlier during the day, PTI reported.

“Disciplinary committee of Trinamool meets. Baishali Dalmiya has been expelled from the party,” a brief statement of the party read, according to the Hindustan Times.

On Friday morning, Dalmiya had hit out at the party after Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee’s decision to step down from the Cabinet, reported The Indian Express.

“Rajib da resigning as a minister is a big loss for the party and the people,” Dalmiya said. “Everyone has self-respect and no self-respecting person can tolerate insult. In Howrah, we have faced a lot of disrespect from a section of leaders. There are some backstabbers and silent killers among us who are forcing many of our ministers to resign from the cabinet.”

Dalmiya had also criticised Trinamool Congress after another minister Laxmiratan Shukla had quit, earlier this month. In a television show, following Shukla’s decision, Dalmiya had said that there are “termites in the TMC who are breaking the party from within”, according to the Hindustan Times.

The daughter of Jagmohan Dalmiya, former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the International Cricket Council and Cricket Association of Bengal, Baishali Dalmiya had joined the Trinamool Congress in 2016 after her father’s death, and was given a ticket to fight the Bally constituency.

Trinamool’s Howrah District Chairman Arup Roy defended the move to expel Dalmiya. “Those who speak against the party and malign its image should be dealt with in this manner,” he told The Indian Express.

The ruling Trinamool Congress is facing a turmoil, with a number of its leaders quitting the party, ahead of Assembly elections in the state, scheduled in April-May. Last month, after a long drawn period of public dissatisfaction, one of its most prominent leaders Suvendu Adhikari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state. Besides Adhikari, six MLAs of the TMC, one each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India and the Congress also joined the BJP.