The controversy regarding forged signatures in the Trinamul Congress legislature party ceases to die as TMC veteran Sovondeb Chattopadhyay released documents related to meetings convened by Mamata Banerjee at Kalighat on 6 May and 19 May, containing details of legislators’ attendance, signatures and discussions regarding the election of the Leader of Opposition, deputy leader and chief whip.
According to the documents made public by Chattopadhyay, 67 MLAs attended the 6 May meeting at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street.
The attendance sheet bears signatures of all those present, with some legislators signing in Bengali and others in English, alongside the names of their Assembly constituencies and the date.
However, several legislators, including Maheshtala MLA Subhasis Das, Bolpur MLA Chandranath Sinha, Kharagpur MLA Dinen Roy and Canning Purba MLA Baharul Islam, reportedly wrote their names in block letters instead of signing.
The document is titled “Members Present at the Meeting Regarding the Election of the Leader of Opposition, Deputy Leader and Chief Whip among Newly Elected Trinamul Candidates.”
It states that the 6 May meeting was chaired by Firhad Hakim, whose name was proposed by Arup Roy and seconded by Chandranath Sinha.
During the meeting, Madan Mitra proposed Sovondeb Chattopadhyay’s name as leader of the legislature party, which was unanimously supported by members present. The document also records that absent members had conveyed their support.
Chattopadhyay’s documents further show that 59 MLAs signed attendance sheets at the May 19 meeting. As in the earlier meeting, some legislators reportedly entered their names in block letters.
The documents have assumed significance amid allegations that some signatures from Trinamul documents were forged and later submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly.
Uluberia Purba MLA Ritabrata Banerjee and Entally MLA Sandipan Saha had earlier lodged complaints before the Assembly, following which the state government handed the probe to the CID.
Investigators have already collected handwriting samples from several legislators as part of the inquiry.
Both Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha were subsequently expelled from the Trinamul Congress.
However, a separate letter purportedly carrying the support of 59 MLAs was later submitted to the Speaker seeking Ritabrata Banerjee’s appointment as Leader of Opposition.
Based on that development, Ritabrata replaced Chattopadhyay in the post.
Asked about the documents, Ritabrata Banerjee said: “The matter is under investigation and therefore I shall not make any comments.”
He, however, maintained that forensic examination of the documents and analysis of legislators’ mobile tower locations on the dates concerned would help establish the truth.
He added that the release of the documents could further intensify the ongoing probe into the alleged signature forgery case.
Ritabrata also questioned the authenticity and purpose of the papers released by Chattopadhyay.
“The document appeared to be an attendance register rather than a formal proposal letter for electing a Leader of Opposition. If it was indeed a nomination document, the same papers had been submitted to the Speaker,” Ritabrata said.
He further alleged discrepancies in the document, claiming that the colour of the third page differed from the first two and that the third page did not contain any signatures.
Adding another dimension to the controversy, a rebel TMC MLA claimed that two separate signatures had been taken during the 19 May meeting ~ one for attendance and another connected to the process initiated on 6 May to elect Sovondeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition.