Kolkata: It turned out to be a day of High drama in Kolkata on Wednesday, first with rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee marching into the Assembly and later with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team reaching party MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s house to serve summons in an alleged money laundering case connected to an recruitment scam.
The four-member ED team reached Abhishek’s Patuapara residence in Kalighat shortly after he left for the nearby residence of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, as reported by Republic TV.
The ED team was not allowed entry and waited outside the gate. Officials indicated that the agency’s visit was aimed at formally delivering summons to the TMC leader in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged recruitment scam and the suspected money laundering trail linked to it.
Meanwhile, in a major development, expelled TMC leader and MLA Ritabrata Banerjee was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) of West Bengal Assembly. Earlier in the day, he claimed the support of 58 MLAs and submitted a letter to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindranath Bose, opposing the party leadership’s choice of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition.
The rebel faction had instead proposed Ritabrata Banerjee’s name for the post of LoP, while seeking key positions in the Assembly for its supporters. The letter, which was accepted by the Speaker, reaffirmed Mamata Banerjee as the party’s leader.
The dissent is paving the way for a prospective spilt in the party. With the dissident camp claiming the support of 58 legislators, it would cross the two-thirds threshold required under the anti-defection law, potentially paving the way for a formal breakaway faction.
The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday announced the immediate dissolution of all its committees in West Bengal and all frontal organisations as part of what it described as a comprehensive organisational overhaul.
The party said it would undertake an exercise of introspection, performance review and organisational assessment before reconstituting its organisational structure.
