From twice expelled to Bengal opposition leader: Who is Ritabrata Banerjee?

Many are already calling him “Bengal’s Eknath Shinde” after the Shiv Sena leader who engineered a momentous collapse of the party in Maharashtra, leaving Uddhav Thackeray, the son and successor to the founder, Balasaheb Thackeray, sidelined.

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Ritabrata Banerjee, the 47-year-old Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, who recently won his first Assembly election from Uluberia East constituency of Bengal, has hogged the limelight for unexpected reasons following the recent turmoil in the party.

From expulsion to LoP

So much so that he has emerged as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly with the backing of nearly three-fourths of MLAs (58 of 80) who won on the TMC’s ticket in the April elections. And guess what? This turn of fortune occurred after Ritabrata was expelled from the party, along with another MLA, Sandipan Saha, on the grounds of anti-party activities.

Backed by 58 rebel MLAs

On Wednesday (June 2), 58 rebel MLAs elected Ritabrata as their leader in the Assembly, rejecting Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, whom Mamata's party had picked after the election results were announced. Ritabrata and Sandipan acted as whistleblowers by writing to Speaker Rathindra Bose, saying 14 MLA signatures on a TMC letter seeking the leader of opposition’s position for Chattopadhyay were forged, something that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari confirmed.

Saying they are the “real, principal” opposition in the Assembly in a press conference, Ritabrata said they would advise Mamata to become the chief advisor to the legislature party. He, however, said this TMC has no relation with Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata, who has been widely held responsible for the poll debacle. Speculation is rife is that more dissenting MLAs could join the new camp.

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Political observers are curious to see whether Ritabrata and his group go to the extent of hijacking the TMC’s grass-flower poll symbol too, like Shinde and the late Ajit Pawar, who had wrested the Nationalist Congress Party’s reins from his uncle Sharad Pawar.

Now, who is the Ritabrata?

Born and brought up in Kolkata, Ritabrata was once known to be a Young Turk in the Left camp. He began his political journey as the general secretary of the students’ union at Kolkata’s Asutosh College in the late 1990s. He also became the All-India general secretary of the Students Federation of India, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and served between 2008 and 2016.

Former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member

In 2014, at the age of 35, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the CPI(M). Known to be close to former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Ritabrata was expelled by the Left party in 2017 for alleged anti-party activities. Ritabrata faced a backlash over his luxurious lifestyle, which many said was inconsistent with the communist ideals of simplicity. He was also accused of using social media improperly. Internal complaints were raised against him.

Joined TMC in 2020 after CPI(M) expelled him

After spending a few years as an Independent, Ritabrata joined the TMC in 2020 and was sent to the Rajya Sabha for a second term in 2024. His term in the Upper House concluded this year, and he contested the Assembly election, which he won. Sources said that if the TMC had won this election, he could have been given a ministerial responsibility.

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Between 2020 and 2026, he also served as the state president of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, the trade union organisation affiliated to the TMC.

Ritabrata was accused by many of his former colleagues in the CPI(M) after violence was unleashed on Left cadres and supporters across Bengal following a physical attack on former state finance minister Amit Mitra in New Delhi, during Mamata’s first term as the chief minister in 2013. He was also arrested by the Delhi Police over the incident.