KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Monday moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the appointment of Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay, rebel Trinamool Congress MLA from Uluberia Pura constituency, as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) by West Bengal Legislative Assembly speaker Rathindranath Bose.
The case may be heard for hearing on 11 June.
Seeking an urgent hearing, the Trinamool Congress lawyer told the court that the first session of the 18th Bengal Assembly is scheduled to begin on June 18 and argued that the matter required immediate intervention.
Justice Krishna Rao, before whom the plea was mentioned on grounds of urgency, directed that the petition be listed at the top of the board on June 11. He also asked the petitioner's lawyer to serve notice on the respondents in the meantime. Bose has been named the principal respondent in the petition.
In a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit, 58 of its 80 MLAs backed Ritabrata for the post, rejecting the party's official nominee veteran MLA from Ballyganj constiteuncy, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay. Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the party, had wrote the speaker recommending Chattyopadhay as the LoP.