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At present, such a historic upheaval is being witnessed in the politics of West Bengal which probably no one had imagined till some time ago. Just a month after facing a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress (TMC) is mired in a deep internal crisis. For the first time in the 28-year history of the party, such a big rift has formally come to light, which has completely changed the political equations of the state.
are at the center of this rebellion Ritabrata Banerjee. On Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 58 rebel TMC MLAs unanimously elected Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader. Immediately after this, the letter of support of these MLAs was handed over to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Basu, which was accepted by the Speaker. With this, Ritabrata Banerjee has got official recognition as ‘Leader of Opposition’ in the West Bengal Assembly and he has also been handed over the key of the room allotted for the Leader of the Opposition.
58 vs 22: Understand Didi’s diminishing power in numbers.
Ever since Mamata Banerjee formed TMC 28 years ago, she has been taking all the major decisions of the party herself. This is the first time that a leader from another party has included more than two-thirds of its MLAs in his camp after being expelled from TMC.
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Total Seats: In the recent elections, TMC had won 80 out of 294 seats.
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Rebel groups: out of 80 58 MLAs Has left Mamata Banerjee and chosen Ritabrata Banerjee as its leader. This number is more than two-thirds, due to which there is no threat to the membership of these MLAs under the anti-defection law.
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Mamata Banerjee has: Now only in Mamata Banerjee’s camp 22 MLAs Only these are left.
From student politics to leader of opposition: Ritabrata Banerjee’s political journey
Ritabrata Banerjee was born on 15 November 1979 in Kolkata. He completed his schooling from South Point High School, Kolkata. After this he completed his graduation from Ashutosh College and post graduation (MA in English) degree in English from Calcutta University. He became very active in student politics since his school days.
His political journey so far has been full of ups and downs, which can be seen below in chronological order:
Big identity in student politics
year 2008
While active in the leftist student organization Students Federation of India (SFI), Ritabrata became its All India General Secretary. He remained on this post till 2016 and made a strong hold among the youth.
Trip to Rajya Sabha for the first time
year 2014
Seeing his ability, CPI(M) sent him to Rajya Sabha. He was considered very close to former Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya and the emerging young face of the Left.
expulsion from the party
year 2017
After some ideological differences within the party and allegations of indiscipline, the CPI(M) threw him out of the party.
Entry in Trinamool Congress (TMC)
year 2020
Leaving communist politics behind, Ritabrata Banerjee joined Mamata Banerjee’s party TMC and proved his organizational ability within the party.
Victory in Parliament and Assembly for the second time
Year 2024 – 2026
In the year 2024, he reached Rajya Sabha for the second time on TMC ticket. After this, in the 2026 assembly elections, he contested from Uluberia East seat and reached the assembly with a resounding victory.
Rebellion and historical posts in TMC
June 2026
Ritabrata was expelled from the party after a dispute within TMC regarding the election of the leader of the opposition. In response to this, he created history by uniting 58 MLAs and has now become the new leader of opposition of West Bengal.
After all, where did this whole controversy start?
Main reason for dispute:
This entire political turmoil started when a proposal was made to elect the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly. During this process, Ritabrata Banerjee and his colleague Sandipan Saha were seriously accused of ‘forging signatures’ within the party. Soon after these allegations, the TMC leadership expelled Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha from the party without any major investigation.
This decision of the party proved suicidal for Mamata Banerjee. After his expulsion, instead of remaining silent, Ritabrata contacted the disgruntled MLAs of the party. Since many MLAs were angry with the party leadership after the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, it did not take much time for Ritabrata to bring them into his fold. The result is in front of everyone today – TMC has been torn apart and the politics of West Bengal has entered a new and uncertain phase.
