Ousted TMC leader Ritabrata Banerjee was on Wednesday appointed Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly after receiving the support of 58 of the 80 MLAs elected in the recently held elections.
The West Bengal spokesperson accepted a letter signed by 58 MLAs. HT learned that two other MLAs are also part of the group, but are currently outside the state.
Ritabrata Banerjee New Bengal LoP
In a press conference on Wednesday, the rebel Trinamool faction announced that ousted leader Ritabrata Banerjee had the support of 58 MLAs out of a total of 80 elected to the assembly from the TMC supremo and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party.
“The TMC Legislative Party is a team of 58 MLAs who have won the TMC symbol. Two more MLAs are likely to join us. Once they formally extend their support, our strength will rise further,” he said.
He said that the Speaker of Parliament approved the amended composition of the Legislative Party and that the office allocated to the Parliament Party became available to him.
The rebel camp also announced a new leadership team for the legislative party.
Banerjee said Akhiruzzaman has been appointed chief whip, while senior legislators Javed Ahmed Khan, Sandipan Saha, Sabina Yasmin and Shiuli Saha have been appointed deputy chief whip.
“The letters containing these appointments have already been submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said.
Ritabrata’s appeal to Mamata Banerjee
The rebel TMC leader urged party president Mamata Banerjee to continue guiding the legislative party despite the ongoing rebellion within the organisation.
“We request Mamata Banerjee to play the role of chief advisor to the legislative party,” he said.
However, he pointed out that the rebel camp had minimal political interaction with Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee.
What led to the rift?
This comes after the TMC appointed senior MLA Subhandeep Chattopadhyay as the leader of the opposition in the assembly amid allegations that the signatures of several party legislators had been forged on official documents.
Ritabrata Banerjee and MLA Sandipan Saha raised concerns over signatures on an earlier letter submitted to the Speaker in support of Chattopadhyay’s nomination for the LoP post.
Following their complaints, the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) initiated an investigation. The party then expelled both leaders.
Kunal Ghosh, a senior Trinamool Congress leader, had earlier said that differences within the party could have been resolved, and accused the splinter group of stabbing the organization in the back during a challenging period.
With input from agencies
