Kolkata, June 6 (IANS) A fresh political slugfest erupted in West Bengal on Saturday after senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Sovandeb Chattopadhyay made public a resolution dated May 6, signed by 67 party MLAs, endorsing him as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly.

However, expelled Trinamool Congress legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who is officially the leader of the Trinamool Congress’s legislative party and also the official leader of the opposition, ridiculed Chattopadhyay’s move, pointing out that the signatures of many of the legislators were put in block letters.

Banerjee also questioned whether the alleged nomination letter had been formally submitted to the Speaker’s office. He further flagged discrepancies in the document, noting that the colour of the third page did not match the first two and that it lacked any signatures.

He further said that since a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe in the matter was going on, it would not be wise on his part to make more comments on this.

“All I can say is that the truth will be known only if forensic experts examine this document thoroughly and track the tower location of the MLAs on that day. All I can say is that this letter will further fuel the investigation that has begun into the signature forgery case, he said.

Last month, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had sent a letter to the office of the new Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, Rathindra Bose, naming Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of Opposition, Nayna Bandopadhyay and Asima Patra as the two deputy leaders of the opposition, and Firhad Hakim as the Chief Whip of Trinamool Congress’s legislative party in the Assembly.

The Speaker, however, insisted that the resolution, carrying the signatures of the Trinamool Congress legislators and endorsing the four names, should be submitted along with the letter from Abhishek Banerjee. Thereafter, a resolution carrying the signatures of the Trinamool Congress legislators was submitted to the office of the Speaker.

However, things took a dramatic turn after two Trinamool Congress legislators, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, pointed out the mismatch in the signatures of some party legislators to the office of the Speaker. Soon after, the Assembly secretariat handed over the investigation to the CID, which summoned Abhishek Banerjee for interrogation.

In the meantime, last week, Trinamool Congress disintegrated with 60 of 80 party legislators forming a separate block under the leadership of Ritabrata Banerjee.

Banerjee was nominated as the leader of the opposition, with Javed Ahmed Khan, Siuli Saha, and Sandipan Saha as the three leaders of the opposition, and Akhruzzaman as the Chief Whip.

A resolution signed by 58 of those 60 legislators was submitted to the office of the speaker last week, and it was accepted.

–IANS

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