Hooghly, Sept. 20 -- Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission's (EC) decision to freeze the party's name and symbol was taken "at the dictate of the BJP", claiming that the poll body was not functioning independently.

Speaking on the Election Commission order that barred rival factions from using the party name "All India Trinamool Congress" and the "Flowers and Grass" symbol ahead of the October 6 bypolls, Banerjee criticised the order and alleged that it was arbitrary.

"The order itself is religious, arbitrary. And it is itself is a non-speaking order. And also perverse. What is the order has been passed, thereby taking away our symbol. They sought for our symbol. That was also not giv...