Who is Ritabrata Banerjee? Ex-TMC leader spearheading party's ‘split’, 58 MLAs back him as LoP in West Bengal Assembly
As many as 59 MLAs reportedly backed MLA Ritabrata Banerjee for the role of Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, which has 80 TMC MLAs.
Days after winning the West Bengal Elections 2026, Ritabrata Banerjee was suspended by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for allegedly being involved in anti-party activities. He has now emerged as a key face, spearheading the rebellion within Mamata Banerjee's party.
As many as 59 MLAs have backed him for the role of Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, which has 80 TMC MLAs. The dissident TMC MLAs arrived at the state assembly in Kolkata on Wednesday to stake a claim as the main opposition party.
Sources told PTI on Wednesday that Ritabrata Banerjee, along with fellow rebel MLA Sandipan Saha and several dissident legislators, met West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose and submitted letters of support signed by 58 MLAs. However, the Indian Express puts this number at 59.
They also proposed a new leadership team, 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, the report added.
The move could redraw the Opposition's power structure in the House. With the support of 59 MLAs, Ritabrata could lead a different front, separate from the TMC altogether. This plummeted the Mamata Banerjee-led faction into an unprecedented political challenge.
Under the anti-defection law, a breakaway faction requires the support of at least two-thirds of a legislative party to avoid disqualification. With the TMC having 80 MLAs in the Assembly, the threshold stands at 54.
If the rebel camp's claim is accepted, it would comfortably cross that mark and strengthen its case for recognition as a separate bloc in the House.
Who is Ritabrata Banerjee?
Ritabrata Banerjee is an MLA from Uluberia Purba assembly seat in West Bengal. The 47-year-old defeated the BJP's Rudra Prasad Banerjee by 95,633 votes in the 2026 West Bengal Election, as per the Election Commission. He contested the assembly Elections on a TMC ticket.
Ten years ago, Ritabrata was expelled from the CPI(M). He was earlier an MP in the Rajya Sabha for the CPI (M) until 2017. He was expelled from CPI (M) in 2017 for anti-party activities. He then joined the TMC and was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2024 by the party for 15 months.
His bio on X reads, “A proud Bengali & Indian. Incidentally MLA from Uluberia Purba, West Bengal & 2 times Former Member of Indian Parliament."
Ritabrata Banerjee's education: Ritabrata holds a Master's degree in English literature from Calcutta University (2003)
Ritabrata Banerjee's net worth: He has assets worth ₹3.3 crore. In the affidavit filed with the Election Commission ahead of the West Bengal Election 2026, Ritabrata declared his income for FY 2024-2025 as ₹18,05,700.
He also declared four criminal cases pending against him.
What sparked the rebellion in TMC?
The infighting in the TMC began over a forged signature scandal in the party dubbed ‘signgate’, the Hindustan Times reported.
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.
Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, now suspended TMC leaders, had informed the Speaker on 27 May that no resolution regarding the selection of the LoP had been adopted at the party's 6 May meeting, contrary to the claim made in the party's official communication.
The two MLAs alleged that the so-called 6 May resolution was "manufactured and fabricated" and stated that as many as 14 of the 70 signatures were in "block letters".
Both Banerjee and Saha were expelled from the TMC on 1 June on grounds of indulging in "anti-party activities", minutes after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari named them as complainants in the signature forgery case.