ED summons Abhishek Banerjee :::: Team Mamata's "Muslim face" Firad Hakim resigns as Mayor :::: "One freedom attained" ... Firad Hakim had once threatened to make a "Dhaka" out of Kolkata ::::: Expelled TMC rebel Ritabrata Banerjee gets LoP status, seeks Mamata as chief adviser

Expelled TMC rebel Ritabrata Banerjee gets LoP status, seeks Mamata as chief adviser

The development effectively gives Trinamool rebels more power in the legislative wing and it would mean the most serious challenge  to the authority of the Mamata-Abhishek Banerjee duo.

Mamata is not even an MLA but Abhishek is Diamond Harbour MP.

Technically, TMC is not yet split... but that remains only a matter of time !!

TMC leader and Mamata's trusted aide and Muslim face for long Firhad Hakim resigns as the Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh says, 

"Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim had submitted a request to Mamata Banerjee seeking permission to resign. 

"He desired a dignified exit, as the State Government is defuncting the Corporation. Until now, Mamata Banerjee had not granted this permission. However, now ... Our leader, Mamata Banerjee, has today granted him permission to resign".  

New LoP in West Bengal assembly: A former Marxist had won 2026 polls on TMC ticket

(In an unrelated development; the Enforcement Directorate issued summons to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the Primary Teacher Recruitment scam. Abhishek is summoned on June 15 to join investigation in the case.  Reports also claim the ED officials reached Abhishek Banerjee's residence in Kolkata to deliver him summons in a money laundering case. ) 

Ritabrata was one of the two legislators expelled by the party for anti-party activities on Monday, just 15 minutes after Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, at a press conference, revealed his name and said that the Speaker had received a formal complaint from the rebel leader.  

This came after 58 dissident MLAs backed legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who has been expelled from the TMC, as the leader of the legislature party and conveyed their decision to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose.  

(Raitabrata Banerjee appealed to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to guide the legislature party despite the ongoing rebellion. 

"We would request Mamata Banerjee to play the role of the chief adviser of the legislative party," he said.)

Addressing a press conference in the Assembly after meeting the Speaker, Ritabrata said his camp had submitted the signatures of 58 MLAs elected on the TMC symbol and "our claim has been accepted by the Speaker".

Claiming that a clear majority of the party's legislators were now behind him, he asserted the dissident faction represented the legitimate opposition in the House.

"The TMC legislative party is a team of 58 MLAs who won on the TMC symbol," he said. According to Banerjee, two more legislators currently outside the state have also conveyed their support.

"Two other MLAs are likely to join us. Once they formally extend their support, our strength will rise further," Ritabrata Banerjee said.

He said the Speaker had accepted the new composition of the legislature party and that the office meant for the Leader of the Opposition had been opened for him.

The rebel camp also unveiled a new leadership structure for the legislature party.  Ritabrata announced that Akhruzzaman had been appointed chief whip, while veteran legislators Javed Ahmed Khan, Sandeepan Saha, Sabina Yasmin and Shiuli Saha would serve as deputy leaders.

"The letters communicating these appointments have already been submitted to the Speaker," he said.

On June 1, TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Rebel Team was attempting to split the party and had held a secret meeting with some MLAs at a hotel in south Kolkata.