A vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court declined to grant an interim protective order regarding the appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as the Trinamool Congress’s Leader of the Opposition. The decision by the new West Bengal Assembly Speaker, Rathindra Bose, faced a legal challenge earlier this week.
During the hearing, the bench raised concerns over recognizing an expelled party member like Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition without the party’s formal consent. Currently, the Trinamool Congress has 80 legislators in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly, with a split between two factions supporting different leaders.
A CID probe is underway following allegations of signature mismatches in documents submitted to the Speaker’s office. The dispute arose after Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha highlighted the discrepancies, leading to their suspension by the Trinamool Congress. Despite the turmoil, Ritabrata Banerjee was acknowledged as the Leader of the Opposition.
