Ritabrata Banerjee
Ritabrata Banerjee in 2026
13th Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 June 2026
Governor R. N. Ravi
Preceded by Suvendu Adhikari
Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 May 2026
Preceded by Bidesh Ranjan Bose
Constituency Uluberia Purba
Member of Parliament India Rajya
Sabha West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office
13 December 2024 – 2 April 2026[1]
Preceded by Jawhar Sircar
Succeeded by Koel Mallick
Constituency West Bengal
Member of Parliament India Rajya
Sabha West Bengal Legislative Assembly
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 the
Students' Federation of India
In office
5 September 2008 – 25 January 2016
Preceded by K. K. Ragesh
Succeeded by Vikram Singh
Personal details
Born (1978-11-15) 15 November 1978 (age 47)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Party Trinamool Congress (2020–Present)
Other political
affiliations
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (till 2017)
Independent (2017–2020)
Alma mater
University of Calcutta (MA)
Asutosh College (BA)

Ritabrata Banerjee (born 15 November 1979) is an Indian politician. He is serving as the 13th Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. He was elected a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal in February 2014. He led internal rebellion inside Trinamool Congress and has made a split.[2] He is currently leading the TMC in the West Bengal Legislative assembly.[3]

Early life

Ritabrata Banerjee has attended school at South Point High School, Kolkata, and obtained BA degree from Asutosh College and MA degrees in English at Calcutta University. He is a full-time political activist and a former General Secretary of the Student Union in his college.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6] On 10 October 2017 a lady named Namrata Dutta filed a complaint against Banerjee in Balurghat Police Station for sexual exploitation by promising marriage.[7][8] 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.[9] Subsequently, CID, West Bengal served a notice to him.[10] 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.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ "Ritabrata is RS MP unopposed". The Times of India. Kolkata. 14 December 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  2. ^ "TMC vs TMC: 59 rebel MLAs back suspended Ritabrata Banerjee as legislature party leader, party dissolves all panels". The Mint. 3 June 2026.
  3. ^ ""Real" Trinamool Backs Rebel For Key Post, Says 'Mamata Banerjee Our Leader'". NDTV. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  4. ^ "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)
  5. ^ PTI (22 April 2013). "Six CPM, SFI activists held for assaulting Amit Mitra". Times of India. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. ^ Subhankar Mitra (17 February 2017). "Eki comrade! Dami ghori, kolom (Bengali)". India.com. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Woman who accused Ritabrata Banerjee of sexual exploitation, lodges complaint". hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  8. ^ Kousik Sen. "Woman complains against Ritabrata". Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Expelled CPI(M) MP Ritabrata accused of sexual exploitation, responds with extortion allegation". Hindustan Times. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  10. ^ PTI (11 October 2017). "Ritabrata Banerjee served notice by West Bengal Police over woman's complaint". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "CPM expels RS MP Ritabrata, Yechury-Karat tussle deepens". Manoj C G. Indian Express. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2018.