In a pivotal political shift, 58 rebel MLAs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have rallied behind expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, proposing him as the new leader of the legislature party. This faction submitted their support to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose, suggesting a leadership team that includes Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha, and Shiuli Saha as deputy leaders. The TMC, which holds 80 seats in the Assembly, requires a two-thirds majority—54 MLAs—to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law, a threshold the rebels claim to surpass. The communication to the Speaker notably refers to Mamata Banerjee as the party chairperson, framing the conflict as one against the current leadership rather than her directly. TMC leaders have dismissed the rebellion as a betrayal, urging that internal issues should have been resolved within the party. The situation escalated following the expulsion of Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, raising questions about the legitimacy of the legislature party and the control of opposition space in the Assembly.