Ritabrata Banerjee Arrives at Bengal Assembly Claiming Support of 59 MLAs, Deepening TMC Rift

Kolkata — Expelled Trinamool Congress MLA Ritabrata Banerjee arrived at the West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday carrying letters of support from 59 legislators, asserting that his faction — and not the group loyal to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee — represents the principal opposition force in the state.

Ritabrata reached the Assembly premises around 10:30 a.m., after which several legislators who had reportedly backed the resolution began arriving one by one to join him.

Supporting lawmakers indicated that another expelled Trinamool Congress MLA, Sandipan Saha, was also expected to reach the Assembly shortly.

A woman legislator said that a brief meeting would be held once Sandipan arrived, after which the group would decide on its next course of action and address the media.

The developments come a day after Ritabrata launched a sharp attack on Abhishek Banerjee at the Assembly premises. Questioning Abhishek's appeal as a mass leader, Ritabrata criticized him for seeking security from the Central Armed Police Forces following an alleged assault in Sonarpur on May 30.

He also accused Abhishek of running the Trinamool Congress in a corporate-style manner and relying heavily on the services of I-PAC for political management.

Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha were suspended from the Trinamool Congress on Monday. The action came shortly after Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari revealed that the Criminal Investigation Department had initiated an investigation into alleged discrepancies in legislators’ signatures on an important Assembly-related document. The issue was reportedly brought to the attention of the Speaker's office by the two expelled MLAs.

The episode has further intensified political tensions within the Trinamool Congress and added a new dimension to the ongoing power struggle within the party.

With inputs from IANS