Kolkata: Trinamool on Saturday announced the name of octogenarian MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as its leader of the opposition in the Bengal assembly.Chattopadhyay, one of the close associates of Mamata Banerjee since TMC’s formation in 1998, has emerged as the only MLA in the state who is set to serve his 10th consecutive term. He won from the Ballygunge seat, defeating BJP candidate Shatarupa Chattopadhyay by 61,476 votes.Firhad Hakim, also mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, who has won from the Kolkata Port seat, will serve as the chief whip of TMC. Hakim defeated BJP’s Rakesh Singh by a margin of 56,080 votes.The opposition TMC also appointed two women members as deputy leaders — Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay. While Patra won from Dhanekhali constituency in Hooghly, defeating BJP candidate Barnali Das by a margin of 13,057 votes, Bandyopadhyay, who was fielded against BJP’s Santosh Kumar Pathak from Chowringhee, won the seat by 62,938 votes.Meanwhile, Trinamool has suspended three spokespersons — Riju Dutta, Kohinoor Majumdar and Kartik Ghosh — for their statements that flouted the party discipline. The suspension order, signed by Chandrima Bhattacharya, a member of TMC’s disciplinary committee, mentioned: “The party has decided to put you under suspension from the membership, along with all positions, responsibilities and privileges for a period of six years with immediate effect.”The action came a day after TMC issued show-cause notices to five spokespersons over comments critical of the leadership and the party’s electoral strategy following the assembly election results, in which the BJP won 207 seats, while TMC was reduced to 80 in the 294-member House.
