Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 3 (ANI): All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Wednesday wrote to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose and sought recognition of party leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of Opposition, citing established legislative precedent and past practices in the House.
In a post on X, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee named other proposed appointments within the Assembly, including Ashima Patra and Nayana Bandopadhyay as Deputy Leaders of Opposition and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip.
In the letter addressed to the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the party stated, “This is to inform you that the All India Trinamool Congress has made the following appointments with regard to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly: Leader of Opposition – Sri Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay; Deputy Leaders of Opposition – Smt Ashima Patra and Smt. Nayana Bandopadhyay; Chief Whip – Sri Firhad Hakim.”
He urged the Speaker to recognise the appointments based on long-standing practice, adding, “You are hereby requested to recognise the aforesaid persons as Leader of Opposition and others on the basis of the precedent or practice of the Legislative Assembly, which is in vogue for decades together.”
Citing previous instances, the letter referred to earlier recommendations accepted by successive Speakers, including in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021, when similar nominations were approved. It also referenced the 2021 instance when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had recommended Suvendu Adhikari as Leader of Opposition, which was accepted by the then Speaker.
Further, the letter mentioned proceedings from the recent House session, stating that Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had been acknowledged during the proceedings following the election of the Speaker. “In view of the aforesaid, we are requesting you to keep the practice and procedure and precedent, to appoint Sri Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition and other persons as recommended as early as possible,” the letter added.
The TMC has maintained that the request is consistent with established parliamentary convention in the state Assembly.
This comes after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections with a huge mandate of 206 seats and formed its first-ever government, with Suvendu Adhikari as the Chief Minister. Trinamool Congress, which swept the last assembly poll by winning 212 seats, finished a distant second with 81 seats.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
