New Delhi, June 3 -- The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal is headed for a vertical split, with nearly 60 dissident legislators set to support expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly - a move that could well establish the splinter group as the official TMC in the state assembly, evoking comparisons with what happened in Maharashtra in 2022. Members of this group have secured signatures from nearly 60 of the TMC's 80 MLAs to support the candidature of Ritabrata. "Our letter seeking recognition as the real TMC is ready. We will hand over the letter to Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose on Wednesday," said a senior leader. Tapas Roy, a minister in Suvendu Adhikari's cabinet in the state -- and like Adhikari himself, an import from the TMC -- posted about a split in his former party on Facebook on Tuesday: "The Trinamool Congress has shattered into pieces. The Trinamool now faces a situation akin to that of Maharashtra; Ritabrata has arrived at the Assembly Speaker's office accompanied by nearly 50 TMC MLAs. The game is on." Addressing a rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, TMC leader and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BJP is trying to split the TMC. "A conspiracy has been hatched from Delhi to split the TMC. But we will not allow it to happen. We will fight." "Mamata Banerjee equals TMC. Everything else is a joke," said a senior TMC leader. Only nine sitting MPs and MLAs attended the demonstration, her first since losing the elections. But Ritabrata's comments suggest that this may not be easy. He told HT: "I believe I still belong to the Trinamool. Those who claim that they are running Trinamool, which means grassroot, have actually lost touch with the grassroot level. One person tried to corporatize the party. The people didn't accept it. People want a better version of TMC." Ritabrata was originally a CPI(M) MP in the Rajya Sabha who was expelled in 2017 for anti-party activities. He was sent to Rajya Sabha in 2024 by the TMC for just 15 months. The dissident leaders need at least 54 signatures, or two-thirds majority, to establish their group as the official TMC....