Overview
- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused interim relief to Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, so the Speaker’s decision recognising expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition remains in force until the case returns on July 28.
- Speaker Rathindra Bose said a group of rebel Trinamool MLAs claiming majority support — reported as about 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs — had personally appeared and sought Ritabrata’s recognition, and the court accepted the Speaker’s need to assess legislative majority.
- The TMC is visibly split inside the Assembly, with rival factions occupying separate sections of the Opposition benches and at least one camp pressing for separate rooms, speaking time and institutional access.
- Legal pressure on senior TMC figures has intensified: state police registered fresh FIRs and arrested former minister Udayan Guha, investigators questioned Abhishek Banerjee and the Madhya Pradesh High Court this week lifted interim protection on an arrest warrant against him.
- Street-level clashes and administrative disputes have escalated public tensions — Mamata Banerjee led a hawker-eviction protest, police used baton charges at a Falta rally that produced arrests, and party officials have sought a freeze on TMC bank accounts as control of party assets and security arrangements are contested.