WB Assembly Speaker: Ritabrata’s Expulsion From TMC Invalid
Speaker backs rebel camp as opposition, citing lack of due process in expulsion
Kolkata: A day after breaking apart into two factions for the first time in its history of 28 years, Trinamul Congress faced yet another blow on Thursday when West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose called the expulsion of the head of the rebel camp of MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee, by Mamata Banerjee's party invalid.
Mr Bose, who recognised Mr Banerjee as the leader of the opposition and his group of 58 TMC MLAs as the main opposition party after accepting their dramatic resolution for the status on Wednesday, pointed out that the Uluberia East legislator from Howrah was not served a show cause before his expulsion.
He said in New Delhi, “Ritabrata’s expulsion is not valid. The first letter sent by TMC had errors. That's why it was not accepted. But the expulsion notice, according to the party's constitution, was not valid. A show-cause is issued before expelling anyone with a deadline for explanation. Expulsion can not be done overnight.”
He also defended his decision to recognise the rebel TMC camp as the main opposition party for having a majority of MLAs. His certificate is bound to boost Mr Banerjee's confidence further as it suggests that neither he nor his fellow Sandipan Saha, who was also expelled for the coup in TMC, is out of their party anymore.
The development also came amid the growth of their camp’s strength to 61 MLAs with the switch of Sangita Basunia, elected at Sitai in Coochbehar in North Bengal, from the old camp and attended their meeting.
During the day, three rebel MLAs Arup Roy, Baharul Islam and Shubhasis Das appeared at the Bankshal Court and submitted their specimen signatures after the criminal investigation department (CID) of the state police, which has been probing their party MLAs’ signature forgery case, obtained permission to collect them.
Also, Mr Banerjee and Mr Saha recorded their statements in the case before the CID at an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, TMC also lost control of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation with the resignation of Krishna Chakraborty earlier in the day over the poll debacle. Ms Chakraborty, who held the post in two terms, said on her stepdown, “It's personal. I was in the chair for a long time.”
The day however broke with a marathon raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at palatial residence and properties of Showkat Molla, the former TMC MLA of Canning East in South 24 Parganas, in connection with a bomb explosion that left one dead at Dakshin Bamunia in Bhangar of the district before the Assembly polls. The NIA officers questioned Mr Molla’s son Imran after failing to trace him in those addresses.