Who is Ritabrata Banerjee? Former TMC leader heads party ‘split’, 58 MLAs support him as LoP in West Bengal Assembly | Today’s news
Days after winning the 2026 West Bengal elections, Ritabrata Banerjee was suspended by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for allegedly engaging in anti-party activities. He has now emerged as the key face spearheading the rebellion in Mamata Banerjee’s party.
As many as 59 MLAs supported him for the role of Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, which has 80 TMC MLAs. Dissident TMC MLAs arrived at the state assembly in Kolkata on Wednesday to stake a claim as the main opposition party.
PTI sources said on Wednesday that Ritabrata Banerjee, along with another rebel MLA Sandipan Saha and several dissident legislators, met West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose and submitted letters of support signed by 58 MLAs. However, the Indian Express puts the number at 59.
They also proposed a new leadership team, appointing Ritabrata Banerjee as legislature party leader, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Shiuli Saha as deputy leaders and Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman as chief whip, the report added.
This move could redraw the power structure of the opposition in the House. With the support of 59 MLAs, Ritabrata could lead a different front, completely separate from the TMC. This plunged the Mamata Banerjee-led faction into an unprecedented political challenge.
Under the anti-defection law, a breakaway faction requires the support of at least two-thirds of the legislature to avoid disqualification. As the TMC has 80 MLAs in the assembly, the threshold is 54.
If the rebel camp’s demand is accepted, it would comfortably cross that line and strengthen its claim for recognition as a separate bloc in the House.
Who is Ritabrata Banerjee?
Ritabrata Banerjee is the MLA from Uluberia Purba assembly seat in West Bengal. The 47-year-old defeated BJP’s Rudra Prasad Banerjee by 95,633 votes in the 2026 West Bengal elections, according to the Election Commission. He contested the assembly elections on a TMC ticket.
A decade ago, Ritabrata was expelled from the CPI(M). He was previously a Rajya Sabha MP for the CPI(M) until 2017. He was expelled from the CPI(M) in 2017 for anti-party activities. He then joined the TMC and was sent by the party to the Rajya Sabha in 2024 for 15 months.
His bio on X reads: “Proud Bengali and Indian. By the way MLA from Uluberia Purba, West Bengal and 2x former member of Indian Parliament.”
Ritabrata Banerjee’s Education: Ritabrata holds an MA in English Literature from Calcutta University (2003)
Ritabrata Banerjee Net Worth: It has property value ₹3.3 million. In an affidavit filed with the Election Commission ahead of the 2026 West Bengal elections, Ritabrata declared his income for the fiscal year 2024–25 as ₹18,05,700.
He also declared four criminal proceedings against him.
What sparked the revolt in the TMC?
The battle in the TMC started over a fake signature scandal in the party called ‘signgate’, Hindustan Times reported.
On 6 May, the TMC recommended the name of MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post of Leader of Opposition and Chief Whip of the party in the West Bengal state assembly.
Soon after, allegations were made that several signatures of TMC legislators on the submitted documents were either forged or placed without their proper consent, after which Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose refused to accept the recommendation.
Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, now suspended TMC leaders, informed the chairman on 27 May that no resolution regarding the selection of the LoP was taken in the party meeting on 6 May, contrary to the claim made in the party’s official communication.
The two MLAs alleged that the so-called May 6 resolution was “manufactured and fabricated” and said that as many as 14 of the 70 signatures were “printed”.
Both Banerjee and Saha were expelled from the TMC on June 1 on the grounds of indulging in “anti-party activities”, minutes after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari named them as complainants in the signature forgery case.
