Ritabrata Banerjee has been nominated as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly. According to sources, 58 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs have extended their support to his candidature.
Sources also said that Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman has been proposed as the Chief Whip. Entally MLA Sandipan Saha and Kasba MLA Javed Khan have been nominated for the posts of Deputy Leaders.
58 MLAs submit letter backing Ritabrata
Assembly sources said 58 legislators were physically present in the House on Wednesday and signed the letter submitted to the Speaker. The Speaker has also been informed that six more MLAs are expected to add their signatures later.
Also Read | 'TMC has been hijacked': Expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee targets Abhishek, raises corruption claims
The development comes amid the ongoing dispute over alleged forged signatures in the Assembly.
Supporting MLAs meet to finalise leadership posts
On Wednesday morning, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha reached the Assembly, following which several other TMC legislators arrived.
Before entering the Assembly, Sandipan claimed that more than two-thirds of TMC MLAs were expected to participate in the meeting.
Among those present were Shyuli Saha, Sabina Yasmin, Arup Roy, Rathin Ghosh, Javed Khan, Samir Panja, Golam Rabbani, Imani Biswas, Hamidur Rahman, Dinen Roy, Akhruzzaman, Chandranath Sinha, Riaz Hossain, Gulshan Mallick, Piya Pal, Surajit Mitra, Samar Mukhopadhyay, Usharani Mondal, Abdul Aziz and Prasun Banerjee.
Proposal cleared in legislators' meeting
The meeting between Ritabrata, Sandipan and the supporting MLAs took place in the Nausar Ali Room of the Assembly.
Also Read | What is TMC’s ‘Signgate’ row and why is CID investigating it?
During the discussion, proposals related to the selection of the Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leaders and Chief Whip were approved. Following the meeting, Ritabrata and other leaders met the Speaker and submitted the relevant documents.
Formal approval may come soon
According to Assembly sources, the Speaker has sought time until 4 pm on Wednesday before taking a decision.
If the process moves forward as expected, the appointments of Ritabrata Banerjee and the proposed office-bearers could receive formal recognition later in the day.
