New avatar: Ritabrata Banerjee is trying to reinvent himself

Ritabrata tweeted that he had been recognised "as an independent Rajya Sabha member from Bengal"

Ritabrata Banerjee, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader from Kolkata who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014 and expelled from the party in 2017, is trying to reinvent himself. 

On Thursday, he tweeted that he had been recognised “as an independent Rajya Sabha member from Bengal”. He said he will continue to raise issues concerning development of the state and its people. “Bengal is progressing very well under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” he tweeted, indicating his growing proximity to the Trinamool Congress. 

While the young leader is working hard to carve out a place for himself in Bengal politics under a different party umbrella, his former mentor Sitaram Yechury continues to face problems. There is a sense Yechury is fighting a losing battle against the Prakash Karat-led rival camp that is working to ensure he doesn't continue as party chief after the April conclave of CPI (M) in Hyderabad.