The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress on Monday moved the Calcutta High Court, challenging Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose's decision to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee, leader of a breakaway faction of the party, as the Leader of the Opposition.
Seeking an urgent hearing, the TMC's counsel told the court that the first session of the 18th Bengal Assembly is scheduled to begin on June 18 and argued that the matter required immediate intervention.
Justice Krishna Rao, before whom the plea was mentioned on grounds of urgency, directed that the petition be listed at the top of the board on June 11. He also asked the petitioner's lawyer to serve notice on the respondents in the meantime.
The Speaker has been named the principal respondent in the petition.
The legal challenge comes days after Bose recognised Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition following a dramatic split in the TMC legislature party. In a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit, 58 of its 80 MLAs backed Ritabrata for the post, rejecting the party's official nominee, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.
Rebel camp claims support grows beyond Assembly
Signs of growing dissent within the TMC emerged on Monday, with rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee describing veteran Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray's resignation from the party and the Upper House as evidence of widening discontent within its ranks.
Banerjee, who heads the breakaway faction in the Bengal Assembly, said Ray's decision represented more than an individual protest and reflected a "unity of will" among dissatisfied leaders.
Recognised as Leader of the Opposition by Speaker Rathindra Bose after securing the support of 58 of the TMC's 80 MLAs, Banerjee claimed more parliamentarians could publicly distance themselves from the party in the coming days.
His remarks came as contrasting political developments unfolded in New Delhi.
While TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and several senior MPs attended a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, reports emerged of around a dozen dissident TMC MPs gathering at the Motilal Nehru Marg residence of Union minister and BJP's Bengal election in-charge Bhupender Yadav.
The meeting, seen by many as a sign that the revolt within the party has begun spilling over into Parliament, was attended by Ray.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who is in the national capital on official work, and former Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb, the BJP's former co-in-charge for the recently concluded Bengal elections, also reportedly paid brief visits to Yadav's residence.
Against this backdrop, Banerjee suggested Ray's resignation could mark the beginning of a broader political realignment.
"Ray is a senior leader, and his resignation marks the unity of will among us and a significant section of party leaders who are outside the state Assembly. Kolkata's distance from Delhi is barely 1,435 km, and the number of disillusioned TMC parliamentarians is very likely to go up. That development can happen with each passing hour from now," he told reporters outside the Assembly.
He added that he remained in touch with several MPs who shared similar grievances.
Although Banerjee said he had not spoken to Ray before the resignation, he expressed complete agreement with the veteran parliamentarian's criticism of the party's internal functioning.
According to him, concerns over the marginalisation of dissenting voices and dissatisfaction with the party's conduct in the Rajya Sabha are widely shared.
Drawing on his own experience in Parliament, Banerjee alleged that loyalty and favouritism often outweighed performance.
"I sat in the last bench in the Parliament for 15 months and witnessed junior leaders and RTI activists being awarded front seats. Parliamentary performance was never the yardstick of judgement. I felt terrible for Sukhenduda, who was also allotted the last bench," he said.
Banerjee then appeared to target TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien without naming him.
"The seat allocations for MPs are decided by the leader of the House, and the person in charge in this case is a quizmaster who is more focused on managing the affairs of the Diamond Harbour football club. Such buffoonery may be permitted in quiz contests and elsewhere, but not on the floor of Parliament," he said.
The remarks referred to O'Brien's background as a quizmaster and the Diamond Harbour Football Club, which is set to compete in the Indian Super League during the 2026-27 season and has Abhishek Banerjee as its president.
With one of the party's most senior parliamentarians stepping away and rebel leaders openly predicting further defections, the struggle for influence within the TMC appears to be entering a more volatile phase, potentially reshaping both its legislative strength in Bengal and its presence in Parliament.
Hakim visit to LoP fuels fresh speculation
Amid the continuing turmoil within the TMC, a brief but politically significant interaction inside the Bengal Assembly on Monday triggered fresh speculation over possible shifts within the party.
According to Assembly sources, senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim, who resigned as mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Friday, was approached in the Assembly lobby by rebel MLA Sandipan Saha, one of the prominent faces of the dissident camp.
The two were subsequently seen walking together to the chamber of Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, whose elevation to the post against the wishes of the party leadership has become the defining symbol of the rebellion within the TMC legislature party.
While details of the interaction were not immediately known, the optics of the meeting were enough to trigger fresh speculation over possible backchannel communication within the fractured organisation.
Political observers noted that such a meeting would have been virtually unthinkable just weeks ago, when the TMC leadership still appeared firmly in control of its legislative wing.
"The symbolism is impossible to miss. In the current political context, every movement is being read through the prism of the ongoing power struggle within the party," a rebel TMC MLA said.
The encounter assumes significance as Hakim himself has increasingly become the subject of political speculation since stepping down as Kolkata mayor.
His resignation from the city's top civic post was widely viewed as one of the clearest indications yet that the aftershocks of the party's electoral defeat were beginning to shake the urban power structures that had long anchored the TMC's dominance.
With the Assembly emerging as the principal arena of the internal battle within the TMC, Monday's episode involving Hakim, Saha and Ritabrata has added another layer of intrigue to an already fluid political situation.
While neither side disclosed the nature of the discussions, the image of a senior leader long regarded as part of the party establishment walking into the LoP's chamber alongside one of the rebellion's principal architects is likely to fuel further speculation over the evolving equations within the party.