A profound political crisis has gripped West Bengal, triggering widespread institutional friction and dealing a severe reputational blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC). On Monday, June 1, 2025, the Trinamool Congress officially expelled two of its Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha.

This drastic disciplinary action followed swiftly after both lawmakers came forward with serious, formal allegations regarding forged signatures on an official document submitted directly to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker’s office. The rapidly escalating controversy, now widely known across the region as the Bengal “signature scandal,” has ignited a massive political storm across the state, drastically intensifying existing institutional tensions between the ruling BJP government and the opposition TMC hierarchy led by Mamata Banerjee.

The party high command announced the immediate expulsion of the lawmakers shortly after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari made a public address. In his statement, the Chief Minister explicitly referenced the formal complaints raised by the two MLAs concerning the blatant forgery of signatures on an official letter aimed at endorsing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the position of Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

In response to the dissent, a formal communication was quickly issued by TMC vice-president Chandrima Bhattacharya, which explicitly accused the two separate legislators of engaging in deliberate “anti-party activities.” The official correspondence asserted that both of the MLAs had repeatedly and intentionally skipped crucial, mandatory party meetings, while simultaneously making public statements that were deeply harmful to the foundational interests of the political organisation.

“After due consideration of the matter, the competent authority of the AITC has decided to expel you from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect,” the official letter stated.

Dissident MLA Sandipan Saha Points Fingers at Abhishek Banerjee

The internal crisis deepened significantly after the newly expelled MLA, Sandipan Saha, went public to directly blame the TMC national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, for the presence of the forged signatures on the legislative document. Saha argued that as a top administrative official within the party organization, the responsibility for verifying the credentials rested squarely with him.

“Submitting the signatures of those who weren’t there was a huge blunder. Abhishek Banerjee’s name is coming up because he signed the list of MLAs as the General Secretary,” Saha told the news agency ANI during an interview.

Saha further emphasized that the structural handling of the document reflected a profound internal failure of oversight.

“That list itself had so many mistakes. Questions will definitely fall on Abhishek Banerjee because it was his responsibility and he failed to fulfil it,” he added.

Following these public disclosures, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) moved swiftly, issuing a formal legal notice to Abhishek Banerjee in direct connection with the unfolding criminal case. A specialized CID team visited his private residence in Kalighat on Saturday to deliver the paperwork and officially summoned him to appear for formal questioning. However, Abhishek Banerjee did not appear before the designated state investigators on Monday, publicly citing ill health as the reason for his absence, and has reportedly requested a 15-day extension from the agency.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari Demands a Thorough Investigation

Immediately following the high-profile expulsions from the TMC, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari held a press briefing with reporters at the state secretariat, Nabanna. During the briefing, he formally announced that the serious allegations of signature forgery within the legislature would be investigated with absolute thoroughness by the Criminal Investigation Department.

Adhikari explained to the press corps that the initial, detailed complaints regarding the fraudulent signatures had originated directly from the accounts of TMC MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha. Providing a clear timeline of the legal actions taken, the Chief Minister noted that a First Information Report (FIR) was originally registered at the Hare Street Police Station following explicit instructions from the Assembly Speaker. Given the high-profile nature of the legislative fraud, the entire matter was subsequently transferred to the specialized jurisdiction of the CID.

“This is not an act of vendetta. The law is very clear on this issue,” Adhikari told reporters, defending the state's rapid legal intervention.

The Chief Minister further revealed that the state investigation was already moving at a rapid pace, with the formal statements of numerous lawmakers already documented by law enforcement.

“The statements of 13 MLAs have been recorded. Another MLA is out of station, and his statement will be recorded later,” he stated.

Adhikari went on to claim that forensic scrutiny and initial interviews indicated that multiple signatures presented on the document delivered to the Speaker’s office were completely unauthentic.

“Three Trinamool MLAs – Baharul Islam, Arup Roy and Shubhashis Das – have given statements to the CID that the signatures in the document were not theirs,” he claimed.

He concluded his remarks on the matter by pointing toward the broader conspiracy, stating:

“The investigating agency can say on whose instructions this was done.”

Anatomy of the Bengal Signature Scandal

The core of this bitter political controversy traces back to a specific official letter submitted directly to the office of the Assembly Speaker, Rathindranath Bose, on May 20. The document in question was meant to formally secure and validate the high-profile appointment of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay to the post of Leader of the Opposition.

According to the filed complaints, the signatures of several sitting TMC MLAs were systematically forged and placed onto the document without obtaining their prior knowledge, review, or legal consent. The issue escalated into a full-blown constitutional crisis after multiple state legislators explicitly informed the assigned police investigators that the handwritten signatures displayed next to their printed names were completely fabricated.

State investigators are currently working to determine the exact chain of custody for the document: specifically, who drafted the physical paperwork, who authorized its final submission, and whether the signatures were forged with deliberate intent to deceive the Speaker's office. The scope of the active CID probe remains strictly focused on the exact mechanics of how the letter was prepared and processed, and whether senior party functionaries possessed direct knowledge of these administrative irregularities.

Simultaneously, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari utilized the briefing to widen the administration's scrutiny, raising serious public questions regarding a massive network of fake beneficiaries allegedly operating under the state's welfare program, the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme. The financial assistance program was originally launched during the previous TMC government to provide direct, routine financial aid to women across the state.

Adhikari asserted that an internal audit revealed that nearly 30 lakh individual accounts tied directly to the welfare scheme were completely fraudulent, alleging that a vast number of male residents had been illegally drawing monthly funds explicitly earmarked for underprivileged women.

“Around 30 lakh Lakshmir Bhandar accounts are fake. I have asked the DGP to form an SIT to investigate the matter,” Adhikari stated.

The Chief Minister expanded on the severity of the situation, stating that the government is actively investigating potential money laundering elements tied to the fake welfare accounts, given that substantial volumes of public taxpayer funds were systematically diverted through illegal channels.

According to state investigative briefs, law enforcement has already successfully pinpointed multiple highly suspicious accounts clustered within specific districts, most notably Murshidabad.

“The investigators have so far identified around 22 such fake accounts being operated by three people in Murshidabad,” he claimed.

Providing specific operational details from the case files, Adhikari noted that one local individual, identified as Mustafizur Rahman, alongside his wife, Tuhina, personally operated 15 of these fraudulent accounts, while another associate, identified as Tarikur Rahman, managed six additional fake accounts.

State Leadership Contextualizes the Crisis

While addressing the gathered media, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari took the opportunity to explicitly link the unfolding legislative forgery case to what he categorized as a deep-seated institutional environment of malpractice that grew unchecked during the Trinamool Congress's governance.

“The signature scandal is indicative of the reign of corruption that the Trinamool had engaged in during its 15-year rule,” he remarked.

The Chief Minister emphasized that his administration would maintain a strict separation of powers, ensuring that the judicial and investigative branches operate without political pressure.

“As the chief minister and home minister, I instructed the CID to take over the case. I am not going to interfere in the investigation. That is not my job,” he stated.

Mamata Banerjee Responds, Alleging Political Vendetta

From the opposing side, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly hit back at the administration, accusing the ruling BJP government of weaponizing state machinery to politically target, isolate, and intimidate TMC lawmakers.

Banerjee claimed that several of her party’s elected legislators had received highly inappropriate, threatening phone calls from law enforcement officials immediately prior to attending an important party strategy meeting.

“Four of my elected MLAs complained to me how they were threatened by the cops over the phone before they came for the meeting,” Mamata stated publicly.

She further accused the BJP leadership of attempting to systematically fracture and weaken the Trinamool Congress by deploying state investigative bodies against prominent opposition figures.

This unfolding controversy has exposed significant, visible cracks within the internal structure of the TMC at a highly vulnerable moment, particularly as the organization navigates widespread internal dissatisfaction following a highly disappointing performance in the recent elections. With the CID investigation gathering pace and top-tier leaders facing intense legal scrutiny, the Bengal signature scandal is rapidly cementing itself as one of the most volatile political flashpoints in the state's modern history.