Trinamool Congress moves Calcutta HC over LoP row

The Trinamool Congress on Monday (June 8, 2026) moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose to recognise the expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the House. 

The party’s LoP nominee, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, said he had submitted the petition before the High Court seeking an urgent hearing in view of the scheduled commencement of the 18^th West Bengal Assembly on June 18. 

Sirsanya Bandyopadhyay, who would be representing the Trinamool Congress in the matter, said, “The petition was mentioned before Justice Krishna Rao, which is scheduled to be heard on Thursday .”

The case stems from a split within the Trinamool Congress’s legislature party on June 3 when at least 58 MLAs elected expelled MLA Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee as the new LoP. Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee’s leadership was later also recognised by the Speaker Mr. Bose who said Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee’s expulsion from the party violated the party’s constitution while also considering the requisite numerical strength. 

The decision triggered sharp opposition from the party leadership, which subsequently resolved to challenge the Speaker’s action before the High Court as it maintained that the Speaker’s decision is illegal and violated parliamentary procedures and applicable rules.

The political crisis in the 28-year-old party came after the rebel bloc expressed sheer discontent over the growing influence of the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee whom they also accused of forging the signatures of the MLAs in the nomination letter of Mr. Chattopadhyay as the LoP. 

The High Court is now likely to examine the legality of the Speaker’s decision recognising Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition and the contradictory claims regarding leadership of the opposition bloc in the Assembly.