KOLKATA, June 3: The TMC on Wednesday suffered its first split in its 28-year history as 58 rebel MLAs elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition, wresting control of its legislature party, and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker, plunging Mamata Banerjee’s outfit into its gravest internal crisis since its inception in 1998.
Within hours, a rattled TMC leadership dissolved all party committees and frontal organisations across West Bengal in what appeared to be an attempt to regain political control amid a fast-escalating power struggle.
The rebel camp, led by Ritabrata Banerjee and fellow expelled MLA Sandipan Saha, submitted letters of support from 58 legislators before Speaker Rathindra Bose, comfortably crossing the two-thirds threshold required under the anti-defection law for recognition as a separate bloc.
“We accept Mamata Banerjee as our leader but do not accept Abhishek Banerjee,” a leader associated with the dissident camp said. (PTI)
