Kolkata: Divisions inside the Trinamool Congress grew sharper on June 3 when a group of rebel MLAs, including former leaders Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, said they had the support of 58 members of the West Bengal Assembly. They rejected the party’s selection of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition and submitted a letter to Speaker Rathindranath Bose asking that Banerjee be given the post instead. The letter also seeks the Chief Whip position for the group and names Sandipan Saha, Javed Ahmed Khan, Seuli Saha and Sabina Yasmin as Deputy Leaders of the Opposition. The Speaker has received the letter and the matter is under review. The signatories continue to recognise Mamata Banerjee as party leader. Because at least two of the 58 MLAs have already been suspended, it is unclear whether further disciplinary steps will follow. With numbers exceeding two-thirds of the party’s strength, the group could meet the threshold under anti-defection rules, opening the possibility of a formal split. Separately, the Trinamool Congress announced the immediate dissolution of all its state committees and frontal organisations in West Bengal. The party said the move is part of a wider review that will examine performance at every level before new structures are formed.
