Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will move the Calcutta High Court on Monday, June 8, challenging the West Bengal Assembly Speaker’s decision to recognise rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition in the House, party MP Kalyan Banerjee said.
The decision was taken at a meeting convened by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday evening, June 5, where senior party leaders discussed the fallout of the rebellion by a section of its MLAs that has shaken the organisation after its defeat in the recent Assembly elections.
The TMC on June 3 suffered its first split in its 28-year history as 58 rebel MLAs elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition, wresting control of its legislature party, and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker, plunging Mamata Banerjee’s outfit into its gravest internal crisis since its inception.
“We have decided to move court against the decision of the Speaker. We think the decision is against established norms and parliamentary procedures. Rules have been violated,” Kalyan Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.
Reacting to the proposed legal challenge, Ritabrata Banerjee dismissed the allegations and asserted that all constitutional and procedural requirements had been followed.
“All norms have been followed. Today, there was a meeting convened by Mamata Banerjee. Please go and see how many legislators attended that meeting,” he told reporters, suggesting that the majority of elected representatives remained with the rebel camp.
Responding to Ritabrata Banerjee’s claim, the TMC’s media cell said the meeting at Mamata Banerjee’s residence was not convened for all party MLAs or MPs but was of the party’s National Working Committee.
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“It was a National Working Committee meeting and not a meeting of all MLAs or MPs. Several members, including MPs Mahua Moitra and Sushmita Dev, as well as senior leaders Mukul Sangma and Rajesh Tripathi, attended virtually,” a statement issued by the party’s media cell said.
The party maintained that attendance at the meeting could not be seen as a measure of support among legislators, rejecting the dissident camp’s contention that the turnout reflected a shift in political loyalties.
On the other hand, the dissident camp has unveiled its own leadership structure, naming Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition and Akhruzzaman as chief whip. Senior legislators Javed Ahmed Khan, Sandipan Saha, Sabina Yasmin and Shiuli Saha were appointed deputy leaders.
Several veteran TMC legislators, including Samar Mukhopadhyay, Arup Roy, Rathin Ghosh, Javed Khan and Prasun Banerjee, joined the rebellion, underlining the depth of discontent within the party’s ranks.
The current confrontation traces its origins to the controversy over the selection of the leader of the opposition after the elections.
The row erupted when a proposal sent to Speaker Rathindra Bose, seeking recognition of senior TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post, allegedly contained forged signatures of several legislators.
The allegations triggered an FIR and a CID investigation.
What began as a dispute over the selection of the Leader of the Opposition soon snowballed into a battle for control of the legislature party and eventually into the biggest challenge to Mamata Banerjee’s authority since she founded the TMC.
Beyond the immediate question of who occupies the opposition benches, the case is likely to determine the legitimacy of competing claims over the TMC’s legislative wing and could shape the trajectory of a party confronting the most serious internal crisis in its 28-year history.
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