Kolkata, June 4 -- In the wake of a massive political rebellion within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the breakaway faction of party lawmakers, accusing them of betraying the electorate by aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Her remarks come a day after 58 out of the TMC's 80 newly elected MLAs marched to the chamber of Assembly Speaker Rathindranath Bose on Wednesday. Led by recently expelled MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, the rebel group claimed to have crossed the critical two-thirds threshold required to bypass anti-defection laws, formally staking claim over the TMC Legislature Party and naming Ritabrata Banerjee as the official Leader of the Opposition...