West Bengal Speaker Rathindra Bose on Wednesday approved the appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition, following a letter of support by 58 Trinamool Congress MLAs.
Banerjee's appointment marks a big setback for former CM and party chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who had expelled Ritabrata for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities a few days back.
Ritabrata said that the TMC legislature party of 58 MLAs won the symbol, adding that two more MLAs are likely to join them.
Speaking to the media, Ritabrata said, "We have claimed that the legislative party belongs to these MLAs. Two-thirds of the MLAs who have won in the symbol of the Trinomial Congress. The West Bengal State Legislative Assembly, the Speaker, has granted us our claim. So we want to go one step forward, one step at a time..."
"I have already categorically stated that we will write to Mamata Banerjee to be the chief advisor of the Trinomial Congress legislative party in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly," he added.
He announced the names of Javed Khan, Sandeepan Saha, Sabina Yasmin, and Shiuli Saha to be deputy leaders of the TMC legislature party. Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman has been named as the chief whip of TMC.
MLAs anguished with Abhishek Banerjee's leadership, seek Mamata as advisor
Speaking about Ritabrata's appointment, Sandipan Saha lashed out at Abhishek Banerjee, holding him accountable for the party's loss in recent assembly elections. However, he expressed a desire for Mamata's guidance as an advisor.
Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, "We have just submitted the letter. The room designated for the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) has been officially allotted. The LoP is currently seated there... It is our desire that Mamata Didi continues to serve as our advisor, offering us her counsel so that we, along with the LoP and the Chief Whip, can effectively steer the party within the Legislative Assembly... The sorry state to which the party has been reduced, in some measure, is a failure on the part of Abhishek Banerjee. After all, if you claim credit when things go well, you must also accept responsibility when things go wrong..."
LoP role divides party
Infighting in TMC started after a letter allegedly signed by MLAs was sent to the Speaker for the appointment of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as LoP, following a party meeting on May 6. The Speaker rejected the request, citing procedural lapses in the letter. The letter was not sent by the TMC legislative party, which remains an administrative requirement.
Upon submission of a fresh letter, the Speaker flagged a mismatch in the signatures of a certain MLA, triggering a CID probe into an alleged 'Fake Signature case'.
The two TMC MLAs who lodged a complaint with the Speaker about fake signatures were Ritabrata and Sandipan. After CM Suvendu's press conference and mention of the MLAs, Mamata-led TMC expelled them both on Monday.
However, the group led by Ritabrata asserted having a majority and reached out to the Speaker seeking the Opposition role.