Mamata Banerjee's loyalist Anubrata Mandal joins Ritabrata-led rebel faction, named Birbhum district president

Speculation over Mandal's switch had been circulating for some time, but it was confirmed after Ritabrata Banerjee announced the new district leadership.

West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Ritabrata Banerjee on Saturday announced the appointment of district presidents for his faction, naming former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mandal as the president of Birbhum district.

Mandal, once considered a close aide of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a Birbhum strongman, formally joined the rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee, dealing a fresh setback to the TMC.

Addressing the press conference here, Ritabrata said, "We have appointed the Presidents of various districts. Prasun Banerjee has been made the President of Malda district, Debashis Kumar of South Kolkata district, Sandipan Saha of North Kolkata district, Anubrata Mandal of the Birbhum district."

Speculation over Mandal's switch had been circulating for some time, but it was confirmed after Ritabrata Banerjee announced the new district leadership, naming him as the faction's Birbhum district chief.

Earlier, Ritabrata announced the constitution of a new leadership structure for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Committee and appointed Arup Roy as its chairperson.

They also constituted a 30-member National Working Committee (NWC), while reiterating that he wanted Mamata Banerjee to play the role of mentor in the TMC.

He said the 30-member committee includes Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh, Sabina Yasmin, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and others, while Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin have been appointed as vice-presidents.

Earlier, TMC suffered setback as three prominent former Rajya Sabha MPs, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The leaders were formally inducted at the BJP's state headquarters in the presence of West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya and other senior party officials. Within hours of induction into the party, the BJP fielded them for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal.

The bypolls will be held on July 24 with counting of votes on the same day, after the seats fell vacant following the resignations of the three former TMC leaders last month.