Bengal: Expelled TMC leader claims rebel group led by him has been accepted as main opposition

Expelled Trinamool Congress MLA Ritabrata Banerjee claimed on Wednesday that West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose has accepted the claim of the rebel group led by him to be the main opposition in the state, ANI reported.

Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that the speaker had accepted a proposal by 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs to be recognised as TMC’s legislature wing.

Earlier in the day, the 58 MLAs submitted to the speaker, without the party’s letterhead, a list mentioning Mamata Banerjee as the party’s leader, Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the Opposition, and Sheuli Saha, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Sabina Yasmin as the deputy leaders in the House.

Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that the speaker has accepted these demands.

The stand taken by the 58 MLAs is being viewed as a challenge to party chief Mamata Banerjee, who is supporting Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Opposition leader in the Assembly.

On Tuesday, General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee sent a fresh letter to Bose, reiterating the party’s decision to appoint Chattopadhyay as leader of the Opposition.

This came amid a probe into allegations by Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha that signatures were forged in documents submitted to the speaker in support of Chattopadhyay’s appointment.

Saha, who represents the constituency of Entally, was also expelled by the TMC on Monday.

On Wednesday, Ritabrata Banerjee said that the...

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