At the same time, past friendships also lingered. So when Speaker Rathindra Bose said he was giving TMC rebel faction chief whip Akhruzzaman (the MLA from Raghunathganj, Murshidabad) 8 minutes to speak on the Budget proposals, the latter clarified that he had given 2 minutes of his allotted time to the rival TMC faction’s chief whip, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.

Among those left bewildered was Sabina Yasmin, Akhruzzaman’s colleague in the rebel ranks, who had laid claim to those 2 minutes openly.

Then there was the rebel TMC faction’s walkout during Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s reply to the Governor’s address. The TMC rebels said they were protesting against the fact that post-poll violence against the party’s supporters was not mentioned by the Governor.

Firhad Hakim, also in the rebel camp but once seen as a close lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee, urged her loyalists such as Kunal Ghosh and Sobhandeb to join them in the walkout.

When they didn’t, Adhikari, who was himself in the TMC once, took the side of the group that had walked out (thus fanning belief about the BJP’s “hand” in engineering the TMC split). “The Good TMC walked out but the Kalighat Trinamool remained in the House,” Adhikari quipped, Kalighat being a reference to Mamata’s residential address.

Those in the Mamata camp argued that they had chosen to stay in the House rather than “flee” like the rebels. Plus, Kunal Ghosh added: “We thought Suvendu Adhikari is giving his first speech in the Assembly as CM, and we should not walk out, but hear his address.”

With the TMC rebellion seen as far from over – though heavily tilted right now in favour of the rebels, with 62 MLAs out of the party’s 80 – which legislator was in what corner also remained up in the air. During Ghosh’s address, BJP MLAs were heard asking which side of the TMC he was on. “The ink on my finger has not yet faded. I am not a traitor,” Ghosh shot back.

BJP MLAs were among the most vociferous in defending the rebel TMC faction’s chosen leader in the House, Ritabrata Banerjee, over another of Ghosh’s statements. With the Mamata TMC group also laying claim to the Leader of the Opposition post, Ghosh asked Speaker Bose: “How can someone accused in a rape case be made the LoP?”

Bose told Ghosh to refrain from such remarks, and Ghosh objected to the way he had been spoken to. BJP MLAs took off from there against Ghosh.

To the bemusement of his fellow legislators, Ghosh also went on to ask why the Adhikari government was not taking action against “corrupt” TMC MLAs among the rebel ranks, claiming that it is because they are close to the BJP. The corruption is allegedly linked to Mamata’s term in power, something the united TMC once outrightly denied.

The Budget itself, which marks a clean departure from the Mamata government – in that the state can now count on a generous flow of funds from the Centre – required calisthenics from the two TMC factions.

Rebel Dinen Roy (Kharagpur) called it “an unprecedented Budget”. “We have to accept what is good as good. We are welcoming this Budget.”

BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh, the next speaker, couldn’t resist a swipe. “After hearing the speaker before me, I got confused. Is he an Opposition MLA or ruling? I think he is just expressing that he is keen to join the BJP.”

In the process, the Budget proposals were passed without changes.

Outside the House too, the TMC’s state of tizzy prevailed. With the Speaker accepting Ritabrata as the LoP, the rebel faction has got pride of place in the chamber and hall room where legislators mingle. Which means the loyalists such as Sobhandeb, Madan Mitra, Ghosh and Ashima Patra refused to enter the room, sitting either in front of the House doors, or in the corridors.

Chattopadhyay’s demand for a separate room has so far not been met.

A senior BJP MLA said, “We are relishing this because a fight between Opposition groups is always an advantage for us. They are attacking each other rather than the Treasury Benches.”

However, he added, tongue firmly in cheek: “I must say, this is not healthy for the Assembly or for democracy.”