Amid internal divisions, TMC leaders met at Mamata Banerjee's residence and decided to challenge the 'illegal' appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition in the Calcutta High Court, alleging a conspiracy.
Eight MLAs and six MPs arrived at Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kolkata for a high-level party meeting today, amid reports of growing internal division within the party. The leaders present at the residence included MLAs Bina Mondal, Ashima Patra, Madan Mitra, Kunal Ghosh, Firhad Hakim, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Biman Banerjee, and Ashok Kumar Deb. The delegation of MPs in attendance comprised Dola Sen, Mala Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O'Brien, and Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
TMC to Challenge 'Illegal' LoP Appointment
Following the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee termed the appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly as 'illegal.' He announced that the party intends to move the Calcutta High Court to challenge the legality of the appointment. "We have decided that the LoP appointed by the Speaker is illegal. We are approaching the Court against this on Monday. We will file a petition before the High Court," Banerjee told reporters.
Legal Action Vowed Against BJP
TMC MP further alleged that the party would initiate legal action regarding the reported killings of TMC workers by their BJP counterparts. He also declared that the TMC will challenge the alleged registration of "false cases" against its party members. "We will fight against the manner in which the BJP is killing TMC workers and lodging false cases against them. We will fight on the streets, we will fight in Court," added Banerjee.
Party Organisational Changes
Banerjee also announced that TMC leaders Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen will assist the party's National General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, in his organisational duties. He further stated that state-level leaders will provide their inputs, based on which new party committees will be constituted.
"At the state level, leaders will give suggestions, and based on those, committees will be formed.Chandrima Bhattacharya has been appointed President. Sajda Ahmed, Mamata Thakur, Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Swati Khandekar appointed vice presidents of West Bengal Pradesh Trinamool Congress," added Banerjee.
Rebel Faction Claims Opposition Status
TMC meeting was held amidst the backdrop of heightened political turbulence within the TMC following claims by a group of rebel MLAs, including expelled party leaders Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, who have said they have the backing of 58 legislators in the West Bengal Assembly, and rejected the party leadership's choice of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP).
Ritabrata Banerjee later claimed that the faction had been "accepted as the principal opposition" in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly and that the Speaker had acknowledged "our claim".
"This two-thirds strong legislative team of the Trinamool Congress inside the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly does not believe in 'I', it believes in 'we'. Whatever norms are framed out, we have followed every norm, and that's why we have been accepted as the principal opposition in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly," he said.
"We want Mamata Banerjee to be our chief advisor, to give us advice that will help us in strengthening our position as the opposition. Eighty members were elected by the Trinamool Congress symbol. More than two-thirds of them have given our claim, and the claim has been accepted," he added.
Ritabrata Banerjee, who also addressed a press conference, said they were going one step at a time. "We have claimed that the legislative party belongs to these MLAs. Two-thirds of the MLAs who have won in the symbol of the Trinamool 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," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)