Kolkata: The deepening fissures within the TMC were laid bare on the floor of the West Bengal assembly on Thursday, as rival factions of the party occupied separate sections of the opposition benches during the opening day of the BJP government's first budget session.The development underscored the extent of the crisis gripping the TMC after its defeat in the 2026 assembly elections, with MLAs aligned with Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee sitting apart from legislators supporting party chairperson Mamata Banerjee's nominated leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.Also Read: Defamation case: HC lifts stay on arrest warrant against TMC MP Abhishek BanerjeeWhile around 38 MLAs were seen occupying benches alongside Ritabrata Banerjee and senior rebel leaders such as Sandipan Saha, another group of about 14 legislators, including senior leaders Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Madan Mitra, Kunal Ghosh, Rukbanur Rahman and Alifa Ahmed, sat separately in another section of the opposition enclosure.The presence of former minister Firhad Hakim, once regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee's closest confidants, in the Ritabrata camp drew considerable attention in political circles.The assembly's seating arrangement offered perhaps the clearest visual indication yet that the battle for control of the TMC has moved beyond organisational meetings and courtrooms to the legislature itself.The split in the assembly mirrors a similar rupture in Parliament, where 20 dissident TMC MPs, including former Lok Sabha party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, have broken ranks with the leadership and sought merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), claiming the support of more than two-thirds of the TMC's Lok Sabha members.Also Read: As Shiv Sena, TMC splits swell NDA ranks, TDP and JDU lose some of their bargaining chipThe parliamentary rebellion also sparked curiosity over the positioning of Chowringhee MLA Nayana Bandyopadhyay, wife of Sudip Bandyopadhyay. On Thursday, she was seen seated with the Mamata Banerjee-aligned legislators.The TMC had won 80 seats in the assembly elections and emerged as the principal opposition party, after the BJP secured a commanding majority.Following the election, Mamata Banerjee nominated senior leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the party's choice for Leader of the Opposition and informed Speaker Rathindra Bose through a letter on May 9.However, the political equations changed dramatically after 58 TMC MLAs broke ranks and backed Ritabrata Banerjee for the post. The Speaker subsequently recognised him as Leader of the Opposition, triggering a legal challenge from the Mamata camp.The party leadership had expelled Ritabrata from the TMC on June 1 for alleged anti-party activities, but the move failed to prevent the rebellion from gathering momentum.Shovandeb subsequently approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the Speaker's decision. During a hearing on Wednesday, the court raised several questions on the issue, but declined to pass any interim order on Thursday, allowing Ritabrata to continue as Leader of the Opposition for now.The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing again on July 28.Rebel leaders claimed their strength has since increased to 65 MLAs and reiterated their contention that they represent the "real TMC".Though several legislators from the dissident camp were absent from Thursday's proceedings, the rival seating arrangements highlighted how a party that ruled Bengal for 15 years now finds itself divided into competing centres of power - one operating from Kalighat under Mamata Banerjee's leadership and the other rallying around Ritabrata Banerjee inside the assembly.For a party already battling a split in Parliament, legal disputes over legislative leadership and growing uncertainty over organisational control, Thursday's scenes in the assembly served as another reminder that the struggle for the TMC's political legacy is far from over.