kolkata

IIE DIGITAL DESK ; Kolkata, June 3: Ritabrata Banerjee has been officially appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly. The approval came after a letter was submitted to Speaker Rathindra Basu on Wednesday afternoon, bearing the signatures of at least 58 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs. The Speaker formally accepted the proposal and granted Ritabrata recognition as the Leader of Opposition.

Ritabrata Banerjee addressed a press conference and said, “We will play a constructive role as the opposition.”

Just two days earlier, amid allegations of fake signatures in the Assembly, TMC had expelled Ritabrata Banerjee and Entally MLA Sandipan Saha from the party for alleged anti-party activities. Ironically, these two leaders were later at the centre of a major political development as 58 TMC MLAs reportedly united under their leadership, openly defying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision.

Mamata Banerjee had earlier proposed veteran MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition, with Asima Patra and Nayana Banerjee as deputy leaders, and Firhad Hakim as chief whip. However, the rebel MLAs ultimately chose expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee for the post. In the letter submitted to the Speaker, the names of these MLAs also reportedly included Mamata Banerjee as the party leader, adding further political complexity to the situation.

This unexpected development has sparked widespread speculation in political circles about the internal dynamics and future structure of the Trinamool Congress.

One of the rebel MLAs, Shiuli Saha, said, “Mamata Banerjee is our leader. We were, are, and will remain her soldiers. But when the party is taken over by someone else, we cannot accept that. We wanted a healthy democratic system within the party.”