Ritabrata Banerjee expelled from 2 parties in 9 years as TMC ousts 2 MLAs
Synopsis
Ritabrata Banerjee has now been expelled from two parties — CPI(M) in 2017 and TMC in 2025 — both times while serving as an elected representative. The trigger this time: a written complaint to the Assembly Speaker alleging that signatures of absent legislators were forged on a resolution. He keeps his MLA seat regardless.
Key Takeaways
TMC expelled MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee (Uluberia Purba) and Sandipan Saha (Entally) on Monday, 2 June 2025 on charges of anti-party activities.
Banerjee was previously expelled from CPI(M) in September 2017 while serving as a Rajya Sabha member — making him one of the few politicians expelled from two parties as an elected representative.
Both MLAs had submitted a written complaint to the Assembly Speaker alleging signature forgery on a legislative resolution dated 19 May .
Saha alleged that the resolution bore signatures of legislators absent from a 6 May party meeting at which no such resolution was passed.
Both Banerjee and Saha will retain their Assembly seats for the full five-year term, as party expulsion does not attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule.
Ritabrata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator from Uluberia (Purba) in Howrah district, has become one of the rarest figures in Indian politics — a sitting elected representative expelled from two different parties within nine years. TMC announced his expulsion on Monday, 2 June 2025, alongside fellow legislator Sandipan Saha of Entally Assembly constituency in North Kolkata, both on charges of anti-party activities.
A Political Career Defined by Expulsions
Banerjee's first expulsion came in September 2017, when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — CPI(M) — suspended and ultimately expelled him while he was serving as the party's Rajya Sabha member. The charges then were grave: lavish lifestyle, financial discrepancies, and moral misconduct, established after an internal party inquiry found major disciplinary violations against him.
Because the expulsion was from the party and not a disqualification from Parliament, Banerjee was able to complete his full tenure as a Rajya Sabha member — a constitutional protection that would serve him again years later.
His Trinamool Chapter: From Rajya Sabha to State Assembly
After parting ways with the CPI(M), Banerjee eventually joined the Trinamool Congress. He served his second stint in the Rajya Sabha as a TMC representative from 13 December 2024 to 2 April 2026, having been nominated to the Upper House following the mid-term resignation of Jawhar Sircar — a former bureaucrat and TMC Rajya Sabha member who stepped down in protest against the R.G. Kar rape and murder case.
Banerjee subsequently contested and won the Uluberia (Purba) Assembly seat, entering the West Bengal Legislative Assembly as a TMC MLA. His second expulsion from a party — this time TMC — now mirrors the constitutional outcome of the first: he will be able to serve his full five-year term as an elected legislator, since party expulsion does not automatically trigger disqualification from the House.
The Assembly Signature Forgery Trigger
The immediate cause of both expulsions was a written complaint submitted to the Assembly Speaker by Banerjee and Saha regarding an alleged signature forgery in the state legislature. The development was publicly revealed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at a press conference from the state secretariat Nabanna, minutes before TMC announced the expulsions.
Saha, who spoke to reporters, defended the complaint as a matter of legislative duty. 'What I did was prompted by my moral obligation as an elected legislator,' he said. He alleged that a resolution submitted to the Speaker's office on 19 May bore the signatures of legislators who were not present at a party meeting held on 6 May — a meeting at which, he said, no resolution was adopted regarding the nomination of the Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of Opposition, or the Chief Whip. 'This was illegal and unethical. So, I felt it was my moral obligation to tell this to the Speaker's office,' Saha said.
Banerjee had not issued a public statement regarding his expulsion at the time of reporting.
What Happens Next
Both Saha and Banerjee retain their seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the remainder of their five-year terms, as the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution does not apply when a legislator is expelled by the party — only when one voluntarily resigns from it or votes against the party whip. The Assembly signature forgery complaint is expected to trigger a formal inquiry by the Speaker's office, and the political fallout within TMC's legislative group in the state remains to be seen.
Point of View
If substantiated by the Speaker's office, could embarrass the party far more than the expulsions themselves. Banerjee's trajectory — CPI(M) to TMC, Rajya Sabha twice, now a rebel MLA — also reflects how West Bengal's political ecosystem has rewarded mobility over loyalty. The real question is whether the two expelled MLAs remain independent thorns or become the nucleus of a broader dissent within TMC's legislative bloc ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
NationPress
18 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Ritabrata Banerjee expelled from TMC?
Ritabrata Banerjee was expelled from the Trinamool Congress on 2 June 2025 on charges of anti-party activities. The immediate trigger was a written complaint he and fellow MLA Sandipan Saha submitted to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker alleging that signatures of absent legislators had been forged on an official party resolution.
How many times has Ritabrata Banerjee been expelled from a political party?
Banerjee has been expelled from two parties — first from CPI(M) in September 2017 while serving as a Rajya Sabha member, and now from TMC in June 2025 while serving as an MLA. Both times he was an elected public representative, making him a rare case in Indian politics.
Will Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha lose their Assembly seats after expulsion?
No. Both MLAs will retain their seats for the full five-year term. Under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, disqualification applies when a legislator voluntarily resigns from a party or defies the party whip — not when the party expels them.
What is the West Bengal Assembly signature forgery case?
According to MLA Sandipan Saha, a resolution submitted to the Speaker's office on 19 May contained signatures of legislators who were not present at a party meeting held on 6 May. Saha alleged that no resolution was adopted at that meeting regarding the nomination of the Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader, and Chief Whip, making the subsequent submission illegal and unethical.
What was Ritabrata Banerjee's political career before the TMC expulsion?
Banerjee served two terms in the Rajya Sabha — first as a CPI(M) member and later as a TMC representative from 13 December 2024 to 2 April 2026, nominated after Jawhar Sircar's resignation. He was then elected to the West Bengal Assembly from Uluberia (Purba) in Howrah district.
