'Official' Trinamool rejects rebel MLAs' move to back expelled leader for LoP post

A section of senior TMC leaders, claiming that they derive their authority from party chief Mamata Banerjee, rejected the move made by the rebel party MLAs who met West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose on Wednesday and submitted letters of support from 58 legislators endorsing expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition.

The development came after a group of dissident TMC legislators met Bose and submitted letters of support from 58 MLAs backing Ritabrata Banerjee for the post of LoP.

The dramatic development, vertically splitting the Trinamool legislative party into two -- similar to the 'Maharashtra model' where a split in the Shiv Sena in 2022 by a faction led by Eknath Shinde broke away from the parent party and, with the support of the BJP, formed the government in the state -- with the new bloc claiming the status of the principal opposition.

"Under rules, who submitted this letter on behalf of the AITC, the party? The MLAs have no authority to do so. Abhishek Banerjee's letter is the only valid letter submitted to the Assembly Speaker. This act is legally untenable," a senior party leader said on condition of anonymity.

"Both Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, who have mobilised the dissident MLAs, were expelled by the All India Trinamool Congress two days ago and the letters of their expulsion are in the public domain," he added.

The dissident TMC legislators also endorsed three MLAs, expelled legislator Sandipan Saha, Siuli Saha and Javed Khan, as deputy leaders of opposition and Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman, as their chief whip.

The move by the rebel TMC MLAs was made less than 24 hours after TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee shot off a fresh letter to Bose, reiterating the party's decision to appoint Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the LoP.

The letter, which also endorsed Ashima Patra and Nayana Bandyopadhyay as deputy LoPs and Firhad Hakim as chief whip, requested the Speaker to recognise the posts "based on the precedent or practice of legislative assembly, which is in vogue for decades together". -- PTI