India, Sept. 18 -- A three-member panel of the Election Commission of India passed an interim order on Thursday barring both rival camps of the All India Trinamool Congress from using the party's name and its reserved 'flowers and grass' symbol in the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal and Assam.

The panel, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, held that "there are two rival groups in the All India Trinamool Congress, one led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the other led by Arup Roy and each group is now claiming to be the party".

After both camps filed their choices, EC allotted them their temporary identities on Friday. Mamata Banerjee's faction...