West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee formally appointed former Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mandal as the district president of Birbhum for his faction, delivering a fresh blow to the ruling TMC.
Mandal, once considered a close confidant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a powerful figure in Birbhum, has now officially joined Banerjee’s rebel camp.
Announcing the list of district presidents at a press conference, Ritabrata Banerjee said, “We have appointed the Presidents of various districts. Prasun Banerjee has been made the President of Malda district, Debashis Kumar of South Kolkata district, Sandipan Saha of North Kolkata district, and Anubrata Mandal of the Birbhum district.”
The move confirms weeks of speculation about Mandal’s switch. His formal induction into the rebel faction is being seen as a significant setback for the Trinamool Congress, especially in Birbhum, where Mandal has long been a dominant political player.
Earlier, Ritabrata announced the constitution of a new leadership structure for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Committee and appointed Arup Roy as its chairperson.
They also constituted a 30-member National Working Committee (NWC), while reiterating that he wanted Mamata Banerjee to play the role of mentor in the TMC.
He said the 30-member committee includes Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh, Sabina Yasmin, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and others, while Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin have been appointed as vice-presidents.
In a major setback to the Trinamool Congress, three of its former Rajya Sabha MPs, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, on Saturday defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The three leaders were formally inducted into the BJP at the party’s state headquarters in the presence of West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya and other senior leaders.
Within hours of their induction, the BJP announced its candidature for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal. The bypolls are scheduled to be held on July 24, with counting on the same day. The three seats fell vacant after the leaders resigned from the Rajya Sabha last month.
(with ANI inputs)
