Ritabrata Banerjee Remains Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Amid Legal Dispute

Kolkata, August 18: Ritabrata Banerjee, a former Trinamool Congress MLA expelled from the party, will continue to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly. The Calcutta High Court‘s division bench has referred a petition challenging Banerjee’s appointment back to a single bench.

Justices Shampa Sarkar and Ajay Kumar Gupta declined to intervene in the Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose’s decision, which recognized Banerjee as the leader of the ‘rebellious yet majority’ faction of the Trinamool Congress and officially declared him the Leader of the Opposition.

The division bench instructed the single bench to make a decision within the next two months. Until then, Ritabrata Banerjee will retain his position. However, the court clarified that the Speaker’s decision to appoint Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition will be considered ‘temporary’ until the final ruling from the single bench.

Earlier in June, a single bench led by Justice Krishna Rao upheld the Speaker’s decision. Following this, senior Trinamool Congress MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, a prominent figure in the ‘core but minority’ faction of the party, challenged the single bench’s order in the division bench.

This case is tied to internal disputes within the Trinamool Congress. In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, the party secured 80 seats, becoming the principal opposition party.

Party leader Mamata Banerjee had decided to appoint Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition. A letter was sent to the Assembly Speaker on May 9 regarding this decision. However, it was alleged that the Speaker took no action on this letter. Subsequently, accusations of forgery regarding the signatures of MLAs on the letter also emerged.

On June 1, Ritabrata Banerjee and fellow MLA Sandipan Saha were expelled from the Trinamool Congress for alleged anti-party activities.

Two days later, on June 3, the ‘rebellious yet majority’ faction of the Trinamool Congress elected Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader and sent a new letter to the Assembly Speaker requesting his appointment as Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker acted on this letter and declared Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition.

Sovandeb Chattopadhyay challenged this decision in the Calcutta High Court. The division bench has now returned the matter to the single bench, instructing it to reach a decision within two months.