Ritabrata Banerjee set to be Leader of Opposition? Bengal Speaker accepts rebel TMC group's claim, says ex-TMC leader

Expelled Trinamool Congress leader Ritabrata Banerjee reportedly said on Wednesday that West Bengal Speaker Rathindra Bose accepted the rebel TMC group's claim for legislature party status. The development came in the backdrop of intense defiance within Mamata Banerjee's party following controversies over “forged signatures”.

In a latest show of rebellion within the Trinamool Congress, several party leaders considered close to chief Mamata Banerjee joined Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's administrative review meeting on Wednesday.

Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, who were expelled from the TMC on 1 June for "anti-party" activities, were also seen attending the CM's administrative meeting. Ritabrata Banerjee has emerged as the key face of what is being called the biggest split in TMC's history.

The incident added a fresh political layer to the turbulence engulfing the opposition party, which is battling its biggest internal revolt after losing power in West Bengal.

As the party's legislative wing appeared headed for an unprecedented 'split', TMC MLAs Nayana Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, Ashok Deb and Kunal Ghosh — regarded as longtime loyalists of Mamata Banerjee — attended the administrative meeting at Nabanna, PTI reported.

The development came hours after 58 dissident TMC MLAs formally backed expelled TMC leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the new leader of the legislature party and communicated their decision to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose. The Hindustan Times put this number at 59.

The TMC has 80 MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly. Support from at least 54 party MLAs is required to open a separate front altogether.

Earlier in the day, Ritabrata Banerjee, accompanied by fellow rebel MLA Sandipan Saha and other dissident legislators, met the Speaker and submitted letters of support purportedly signed by over 58 MLAs.

The rebel camp also proposed a new leadership structure, naming Ritabrata Banerjee as the legislature party leader, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Shiuli Saha as deputy leaders, and Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman as the chief whip.

Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) announced the dissolution of all its committees in West Bengal, along with all frontal organisations, as part of a major organisational overhaul aimed at restructuring and strengthening the party.

Just days earlier, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, along with six party MLAs, had attended an administrative review meeting convened by Adhikari at Kalyani, sparking speculation about changing equations within the opposition camp in the aftermath of the assembly election debacle.

With Wednesday's Nabanna meeting drawing another set of TMC leaders, political observers told PTI the distinction between administrative engagement and political messaging was becoming increasingly blurred in the state's rapidly evolving post-poll landscape.

Why the infighting?

The infighting in the TMC began over a forged signature scandal in the party dubbed ‘signgate’, the Hindustan Times reported. The matter is related to the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly.

On 6 May, the TMC recommended MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay’s name for the position of the Leader of the Opposition and the party’s chief whip in the West Bengal state assembly.

Soon after, allegations were levelled that several of the TMC legislators’ signatures on the documents submitted were either forged or placed without their proper consent, after which Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose refused to accept the recommendation.

TMC MLA Akhruzzaman said on Wednesday that party leadership didn't follow procedure in electing the Leader of the Opposition.