Ritabrata Banerjee
Ritabrata Banerjee | |
|---|---|
 Ritabrata Banerjee in 2026 | |
| Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 3 June 2026 | |
| Governor | R. N. Ravi |
| Preceded by | Sovandeb Chattopadhyay |
| Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 4 May 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Bidesh Ranjan Bose |
| Constituency | Uluberia Purba |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 13 December 2024 – 2 April 2026[1] | |
| Preceded by | Jawhar Sircar |
| Succeeded by | Koel Mallick |
| Constituency | West Bengal |
| In office 3 April 2014 – 2 April 2020 | |
| Succeeded by | Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya |
| Constituency | West Bengal |
| State President of INTTUC West Bengal | |
| In office 20 November 2020 – 1 June 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Madan Mitra |
| Succeeded by | Moloy Ghatak |
| General Secretary of Students' Federation of India | |
| In office 5 September 2008 – 25 January 2016 | |
| Preceded by | K. K. Ragesh |
| Succeeded by | Vikram Singh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 November 1979 Calcutta, West Bengal, India |
| Party | All India Trinamool Congress (Rebel Bloc) (2026–present) |
Other political affiliations | Communist Party of India (Marxist) (till 2017) Independent (2017–2020) Trinamool Congress (2020-2026) |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta (MA) Asutosh College (BA) |
Ritabrata Banerjee (born 15 November 1979) is an Indian politician from West Bengal. He is currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly since June 2026. He is serving as a Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Uluberia Purba AC. He previously had served as Rajya Sabha MP for two terms on Communist Party of India (Marxist) and All India Trinamool Congress tickets.
Early life
Banerjee attended South Point High School, Kolkata, and obtained BA degree from Asutosh College and MA degree in English at Calcutta University. He is a full-time political activist and a former General Secretary of the Student Union in his college.[2]
Political Career
Banerjee's political journey began during his student days in Kolkata, when he was studying at Asutosh College. He actively became involved with Students' Federation of India, which is an affiliate of Communist Party of India (Marxist). He became extremely popular in unions as he was an efficient orator, and could grab people's attention easily.[3]
In 2008, Ritabrata was elected as the National General Secretary of the Students' Federation of India (SFI). He led student protest, political campaigns and national conferences throughout India.[2][3]
In 2014, Ritabrata was made Rajya Sabha candidate by CPI(M) from West Bengal and he won it unopposed.
In 2017, he was accused with sexual exploitation and some explicit videos of his were leaked to the press. He also had conflicts with his party leaders Mohammed Salim, Prakash Karat, and Brinda Karat. He openely criticized them in several media shows with ABP Ananda, Republic Media. Consequently, after those interviews, he was expelled from the party.[4]
He remained a Rajya Sabha MP till 2020, completing his term. He joined Trinamool Congress in 2020, and was made West Bengal State President of Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress. In this period, he was relatively less in media.
In 2024, Ritabrata was made a AITC Rajya Sabha MP, replacing Jawhar Sircar. He played a key role in Rajya Sabha promoting Bengali patriotism and anti-BJP stance.
Leader Of Opposition (June 2026-)
In 2026, Ritabrata became a Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Uluberia Purba. After Trinamool Congress' historic loss, a controversy sparked regarding the signature forgery for the appointment of Leader of Opposition. Ritabrata and Sandipan Saha reportedly wrote a letter about this to the Speaker of the Assembly and was later reported to police, followed by CBI-West Bengal. This report led to expulsion of Ritabrata and Sandipan from party.
After this, on 9 June 2026, Ritabrata claimed the support of 58+2 MLAs out of AITC's 80. Speaker approved the signatures and Ritabrata was selected as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Political controversy
He has been alleged along with other young comrades for harassment of former Finance minister of West Bengal Amit Mitra in New Delhi. In April 2013 in a protest program organised by Student Federation of India before the Planning Commission, few young members of the student organisation harassed Mr. Mitra.[3]
He was suspended from CPI(M) party membership on 2 June 2017 for 3 months pending investigations to the allegations of moral turpitude and leaking party secrets to the press.[5] On 10 October 2017 a lady named Namrata Dutta filed a complaint against Banerjee in Balurghat Police Station for sexual exploitation by promising marriage.[6][7] Ritabrata denied the accusation claiming the woman was extorting money from him asked him for 50 Lakhs not to file an FIR and uploaded screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation in which she asked him for money.[8] Subsequently, CID, West Bengal served a notice to him.[9] Ritabrata was expelled by the CPI(M) after an interview to ABP Ananda television channel in which he spoke against Mohammed Salim. Ritabrata claimed that he was not against the party and only against Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Mohammed Salim.[10][4]
On the month of June, after the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election result when he reported that TMC has duplicated his signature and made Sovandeb Chattopadhyay Leader of opposition as a consequence he got expelled from the party. After that He took the support of 2/3 majority and become leader of opposition and started rebel bloc of Trinomul Congress.[11] His rebellion against the party he won sparked controversy. He also become vocal against Abhishek Banerjee's role of leading Trinomul Congress[12]
References
- ↑ "Ritabrata is RS MP unopposed". The Times of India. Kolkata. 14 December 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Ritabrata Banerjee Profile Educational Life & Political Career". kolkatabengalinfo.com. 11 November 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - 1 2 3 PTI (22 April 2013). "Six CPM, SFI activists held for assaulting Amit Mitra". Times of India. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- 1 2 "CPM expels RS MP Ritabrata, Yechury-Karat tussle deepens". Manoj C G. Indian Express. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ↑ Subhankar Mitra (17 February 2017). "Eki comrade! Dami ghori, kolom (Bengali)". India.com. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- ↑ "Woman who accused Ritabrata Banerjee of sexual exploitation, lodges complaint". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ↑ Kousik Sen. "Woman complains against Ritabrata". Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ↑ "Expelled CPI(M) MP Ritabrata accused of sexual exploitation, responds with extortion allegation". Hindustan Times. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ↑ PTI (11 October 2017). "Ritabrata Banerjee served notice by West Bengal Police over woman's complaint". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ↑ "My Fight Is Against Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, Mohd Salim, Says Expelled CPI(M) MP Ritabrata Banerjee". Outlook. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ↑ "All Eyes On Ritabrata Banerjee As Rebellion Brews Against Trinamool". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ "All Eyes On Ritabrata Banerjee As Rebellion Brews Against Trinamool". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved 25 July 2026.