Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 3: Completing the split in the Trinamool Congress Legislature Party in West Bengal on the lines of the breaking-up of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the rebel TMC group on Wednesday submitted a letter, claimed to have been signed by more than two-third party MLAs, to the Speaker Rathindra Bose who promptly accepted the request and recognised the group leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly overruling the earlier submission of the party chief Mamata Banerjee supporters naming Shobhandeb Chattopadhyaya as the LoP.
Mr Banerjee, who claimed that the letter naming him as the LoP was signed by 58 of the 80 TMC MLAs in the state Assembly, also asserted that his group was the “real TMC” but send a request to the former chief minister to continue to function as the chief adviser of the splinter group. There, however, were no immediate response from Ms Mamata Banerjee.
In a dramatic move in the backdrop of the rebellion within the legislature party, the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday dissolved all of its organisational committees in West Bengal and announced a comprehensive review of the party structure. In a statement posted on X, the TMC said all committees of the party in West Bengal, as well as all of its frontal organisations, stood dissolved with immediate effect.
The decision comes hours after dissident TMC MLAs moved the Assembly Speaker seeking recognition as a separate legislature party, deepening the crisis within the organisation following its recent electoral setback. It said the party would undertake a “comprehensive exercise of introspection, performance review and organisational assessment at every level.”
The statement also said that the organisational structure of the parent body and all frontal organisations would be reconstituted and announced in due course. The party, however, did not elaborate on the reasons behind the decision but the political observers viewed the move as an attempt by the leadership to regain control of the organisation and pave the way for restructuring the party apparatus amid the ongoing crisis. “The party remains committed to strengthening its organisation and preparing it to meet future challenges with renewed vigour and purpose,” the X post added.
In another development during the day, the party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, MP, approached the Calcutta High Court which granted permission to him to file a petition in the court seeking protection against any coercive action by the West Bengal CID over its probe on allegations of signature forgery against him. The court is likely to hear the matter later this week.
The legal team representing the Trinamool moved the court challenging the case. Mr Abhishek’s counsel reportedly argued that the leader had no connection with the alleged forgery of signatures of some TMC MLAs in naming the LoP in the State Assembly. Later during the day, Enforcement Directorate officials reached Mr Abhishek’s residence in Kalighat and served him a notice, asking him to appear before them for questioning in the primary teacher recruitment scam.
The rebel TMC group has made it clear that while they continue to recognise Ms Mamata Banerjee as their chief advisor, they would have no connection with Abhishek Banerjee. “We would request Mamata Banerjee to be our chief advisor to this opposition front,” he said — in a stark reminder of the time the NCP had split under the leadership of Ajit Pawar but its leaders underscored their allegiance to Sharad Pawar verbally.
The new Leader of the Opposition also made the role of Abhishek Banerjee clear – that he had none. “Abhishek Banerjee has no connection to the formation of the 18th Assembly of West Bengal,” he said. Earlier today, Banerjee had arrived at the state assembly claiming he has the support of 59 of the party’s 80 MLAs. The letter claimed this was the “real” Trinamool Congress and curiously, declared that Mamata Banerjee was the leader of the faction.
Earlier, about 20 MLAs of the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday participated in an administrative meeting at the West Bengal State Secretariat chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, and BJP legislators from the three districts in and around Kolkata participated in the meeting. Trinamool MLAs who participated in the meeting included pro-Mamata Banerjee leaders such as Firhad Hakim, Javed Khan and Kunal Ghosh.
Two Trinamool MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee (of Uluberia Purba) and Sandipan Saha (of Entally), had filed an official complaint with the West Bengal Assembly Speaker, stating that the Trinamool general secretary had forged multiple signatures in a letter declaring Shobhandeb Chattopadhyaya as the party’s choice for the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the House. Following this, an FIR was filed against Mr Abhishek, and the CID was told to probe the case.
The letter, submitted by Mr Abhishek on May 20, to announce the party’s decisions on the LoP and Chief Whip for the Assembly, had signatures of approximately 70 MLAs approving the choice. However, nearly 12 names in these were highlighted in bold. Mr Ritabrata and Mr Saha have alleged that these signatures were forged and have claimed that many MLAs, like them, were not involved in the selection process. The controversy over forged signatures triggered the rift in the party.
Mr Ritabrata Banerjee later also named Javed Ahmed Khan, Sandipan Saha, Sabina Yasmin and Seuli Saha to be deputy leaders of TMC legislature party.” Ritabrata Banerjee said, “Will oppose Bengal government policies we think are not right, but won’t oppose for sake of opposing. We request Mamata Banerjee to play role of chief adviser of TMC legislature party. We are real and main opposition in West Bengal Assembly according to parliamentary norms.”
Akhruzzaman, the Raghunathganj MLA, will be the new chief whip of the Ritabrata Banerjee’s TMC in the West Bengal Assembly. “We are the real Trinamool. We have the support of two-thirds of the MLAs. We will continue to fulfil our duty as the opposition party in West Bengal. I am the Leader of the Opposition. I will not cede even an inch of ground to the BJP,” Ritabrata Banerjee said.
Expelled TMC leader Sandipan Saha 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…”
Earlier in a parallel development, TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee addressed the speaker informing him about key party appointments within the legislature. He stated that Shobhandeb Chattopadhyaya has been appointed as the Leader of the House. Ashima Patra and Nayana Bandopadhyay have been appointed as deputy leaders in the Assembly, while Firhad Hakim has been named the chief whip.
The BJP leader Anirban Ganguly launched a sharp attack on the TMC claiming the party was witnessing a battle between the “real” and “fake” TMC. He alleged that the former ruling party in West Bengal has been plagued by nepotism, internal dissent, and a lack of leadership under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Ganguly claimed that several TMC leaders, workers, MPs, and MLAs have lost faith in Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and that confusion prevails within the party ranks. He also alleged that TMC survived by misusing funds from Central government schemes and said party insiders are now echoing concerns that the BJP has raised for years.
Commenting on the TMC split, the Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary said, “They are surrendering in front of the BJP. All the elected representatives who are trying to make a new party have at least one accusation of corruption against them… This will make it impossible for Mamata Banerjee to become the leader of the opposition… Eknath Shinde model is being implemented in Bengal… The MLAs of the TMC are scared that if they join the BJP, Muslims will not let them do it.”