In a major setback to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to grant an interim stay on West Bengal Assembly Speaker Ratindra Bose’s decision to accord Leader of Opposition status to rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee. Justice Krishna Rao directed the parties to file their replies within two weeks and submit affidavits within three weeks.
TMC leader and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared for Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay—the Mamata camp’s nominee for the LoP post—said the High Court did not pass any interim order but has admitted the petition.
"Directions have been issued, and the matter will come up for final hearing. The High Court did not pass an interim order as per what we had sought," he said.
Sobhandeb had approached the High Court seeking an interim stay on the Speaker’s decision to make Ritobrata the LoP without the party’s consent. Ritabrata led the rebel camp of 58 MLAs who signed a resolution proposing him as the LoP and asserting their bloc as the “real” TMC, claiming support of a two-thirds majority.
Meanwhile, a police investigation is underway into allegations that signatures of 14 of the 70 MLAs on the party letter—approved by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee—endorsing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as LoP are forged. Ritabrata and another rebel MLA, Sandipan Saha, had approached the Speaker over the issue, following which the Speaker filed a police complaint.
The TMC rebellion eventually spilled into Parliament, with at least 20 MPs forming a separate bloc and merging it with a little-known political outfit, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a move seen as an attempt to bypass legal complications.
Meanwhile, former sports minister Aroop Biswas has written to a private bank requesting the freezing of TMC accounts amid the formation of separate party blocs.
“I, Aroop Biswas, acting in my capacity as the Treasurer of the All India Trinamool Congress (hereinafter referred to as "AIT"), write to bring to your attention a serious dispute presently prevailing concerning the authority and control of the affairs of AITC, reads the letter.
The letter stated that rival groups are currently claiming to be the legitimate representatives and office-bearers of the AITC, resulting in uncertainty over the authority of individuals seeking to operate bank accounts maintained in the party’s name.
Biswas said that 20 out of 28 Members of Parliament and 58 out of 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly have either left the party or openly revolted against the current leadership. “In these circumstances, a serious dispute has arisen regarding the authority, control and management of the affair," he said.
The letter stated that there exists a "genuine and reasonable apprehension" that party funds may be dealt with, utilised or appropriated by persons not duly authorised to do so. "The funds of the Party ought to be preserved and utilised only by those persons who constitute the legitimate and authorised leadership and who are lawfully entitled to act in the name of the Party and exercise control over its name, symbol, assets and affairs," it said.
Biswas demands immediate precautionary measures to safeguard the funds of the party and prevent any unauthorised or disputed transactions.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, TMC MP Derek O’Brien alleged that the Personal Security Officers (PSOs) who had been posted for nearly 20 years at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence were removed following her silent street protest over hawker evictions earlier in the day. He further claimed that new PSOs, unfamiliar to the former chief minister, had been deployed in their place.
