Ritabrata Banerjee. —Own photo.
Control of Mamata’s Trinamool Congress legislative party has passed into the hands of the rebel faction led by Ritabrata. Ritabrata Banerjee has announced that Akhruzzaman has been appointed as the Chief Whip in the Legislative Assembly. Four members have been nominated as Deputy Leaders: Javed Ahmed Khan, Sabina Yasmin, Shiuli Saha, and Sandipan Saha.
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Ritabrata Banerjee’s TMC
After being kicked out of the Trinamool Congress, Ritabrata Banerjee is now the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The Leader of the Opposition’s chamber on the Assembly grounds has been formally opened for Ritabrata Banerjee by Speaker Rathindra Basu. According to Ritabrata, two-thirds of the lawmakers who were elected on a Trinamool ticket have banded together to form the majority. He declared that they would both provide constructive opposition and fight the ruling BJP head-on in the Assembly.
Ritabrata Banerjee
According to reports, 60 of the 80 Trinamool MLAs have agreed to Ritabrata’s appointment as the Leader of the Opposition. “As of right now, the count stands at 58,” said Ritabrata, who was kicked out of the Trinamool. There are two more, but they are not in the state right now. They have already agreed, and this number will rise to 60 once their formal support is obtained.” Furthermore, Ritabrata, who is currently an expelled member, asked Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool, to advise the party’s legislative branch in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly. He did, however, state that he would have no relationship at all with Abhishek Banerjee, the All-India General Secretary of the Trinamool.
Akhruzzaman has been named the Chief Whip of the Legislative Assembly, Ritabrata declared. Javed Ahmed Khan, Sabina Yasmin, Shiuli Saha, and Sandipan Saha have been appointed Deputy Leaders. The Speaker of the Assembly has received letters expressing their support. The Honorable Chief Minister called an administrative meeting in Nabanna, according to Ritabrata. We appreciate her bringing the opposition to the meeting. There were opposition MLAs from North 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Kolkata. We’ll play the part of an accountable and helpful opposition. While praising the government’s positive initiatives, we will fight the government head-on and without hesitation.
“On Bengali soil, the people have delivered a verdict assigning us to the opposition benches,” Ritabrata continued. This mandate must be accepted. I’m not a “boss,” and I don’t think it’s appropriate to “boss” other people. Every choice will be made after mutual consultation because I believe in the collective—in “us.”
Trinamool Congress’s “signature scandal”
Notably, once the “signature scandal” in the Legislative Assembly was made public, the division within the Trinamool Congress started to deepen. A letter suggesting the appointment of seasoned Trinamool MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition sparked the debate. The proposal that the party’s All-India General Secretary, Abhishek, submitted to Speaker Rathindra Basu was allegedly “forged” with the signatures of multiple Trinamool MLAs. According to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the Assembly authorities were initially informed about the signature forging by Ritabrata and Sandipan. An FIR was filed at the Hare Street Police Station right away. Thirteen MLAs have already been interrogated as part of the investigation being carried out by the CID. In light of this, Abhishek, the All-India General Secretary of the Trinamool, wrote to the Assembly Speaker on Tuesday once more. He reaffirmed his request that Sovandeb Chattopadhyay be recognized for the role, citing recent precedents pertaining to the selection of the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Who is Ritabrata Banerjee?
Ritabrata is a native son of Ramlal Bazar in Jadavpur. He was a student at South Point School. Subsequently, he enrolled at Asutosh College to pursue English Literature; it was there that he received his political initiation. Ritabrata began his political journey with the SFI—the student wing of the CPI(M). Rising through the ranks from the position of Unit Secretary at Asutosh College, he eventually became the organization’s All-India General Secretary. After Asutosh College, he enrolled at the University of Calcutta.
Ritabrata is an ardent Mohun Bagan supporter despite being born into a *Bangal* family in the Jadavpur slum. In the world of football, he is blindly devoted to Brazil and an enthusiastic supporter of West Indies cricket. Approximately two weeks prior to Brazil’s World Cup match, Ritabrata appeared to want to use legislative politics to show that “the game is on.”
Even during his tenure with the CPI(M), his eloquence quickly caught the attention of the party leadership. He soon became a favorite of former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Their bond deepened further due to their shared interest in foreign literature, cinema, and similar subjects. Those close to Ritabrata are aware that his personal collection includes certain books in which specific passages have been marked and annotated in Buddhadeb’s own handwriting. In 2014, the CPI(M) nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. At the time, several members of the party’s State Secretariat raised objections regarding this decision. However, it was solely due to Buddhadeb’s influence that Alimuddin Street ultimately gave its seal of approval to his nomination. Within just three years, the party expelled Ritabrata. The inquiry commission subsequently constituted by the CPI(M) to investigate the allegations against him was chaired by the current State Secretary, Mohammed Salim. Ritabrata famously described that inquiry commission as a “kangaroo court.”