New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday allotted new names and symbols to the rival factions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) ahead of the nomination scrutiny for the October 6 by-poll to two West Bengal assembly seats. The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction has been recognised as "Democratic Trinamool Congress" and allotted the envelope symbol. Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's faction will be called "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress" with the football player symbol. Both groups have been recognised as political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. On Thursday, the ECI restrained TMC factions from using the party name and symbol during the by-polls to the Rejinagar and Nandigram assembly constituencies and asked them to submit alternative names and symbols by 11am on Friday West Bengal assembly speaker Rathindra Nath Bose recognised Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after he was expelled from the party. The Mamata Banerjee faction had named Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post. It expelled two of its 78 legislators, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, before 57 of them rebelled and backed Ritabrata Banerjee as the LoP after the TMC lost power after 15 years. They claimed the right to the party's flowers and grass symbol, its name, and organisational control. Twenty rebel TMC parliamentarians merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India and backed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. On June 3, Bose recognised 58 rebel TMC legislators as the principal opposition party and named Ritabrata Banerjee and Saha as the LoP and deputy LoP. This came a month after the BJP swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, winning 207 of 294 seats. The TMC's tally was reduced to 80. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC was left with nine Rajya Sabha members after Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik resigned in June, joined the BJP and were reelected to the upper House on July 24. A fourth TMC Rajya Sabha member, actor Koel Mallick, also resigned from the Rajya Sabha. Opposition leaders on Friday hit out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it barred both the Ritabrata and Mamata Banerjee-led TMC factions from using the party's name and "Flowers and Grass" symbol ahead of the West Bengal Assembly bypolls. Congress Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused BJP and the ECI of working together to split opposition parties and take away their election symbols. "First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern-BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away. When an entire party can be stolen, it's hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too," said Gandhi on X. "The ECI's constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate-but instead, it's aiding those very forces that overturn the people's verdict," he added, calling the issue a fight for every political party and voter seeking free and fair elections. The ECI on Thursday- after a hearing held on the same day where both rival TMC factions appeared before the full panel- issued an interim order barring the factions from using the party name and symbol for the West Bengal bypolls. The Commission directed both sides to submit alternative names and symbols. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee questioned the interim order saying that the Ritabrata faction had no legal claim over AITC's name and symbol. "Interim order only can be issued when a prima facie case is there. And what we have said about the resolution, no prima facie case has been made," he said, further adding that the "Flowers and Grass" symbol had been issued by Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee also questioned the rival faction's claim that the AITC had ceased to exist in 2025, pointing to their earlier recognition of the party. "On 3rd June, they went to the Speaker and said, 'We are the bloc of the AITC.' Therefore, up to that day, they accepted the existence of the AITC. All of a sudden, on 22nd June, they said there is no AITC," he said. He alleged that the dispute was driven by Ritabrata Banerjee's failure to be chosen as Opposition leader. Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that BJP was using the ECI to influence the electoral system, saying that the party does not believe it has enough electoral popularity to win by itself. "The BJP does not trust its popularity to speak for itself. It sneaks back into power through the back door- with the ECI at its side," said Khera. TMC leader Saket Gokhale targeted the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he was colluding with the BJP to "steal TMC's symbol". "We met the ECI last week and clearly saw how the compromised crook CEC Gyanesh Kumar is trying to steal TMC's symbol.He is Amit Shah's pet and broker," said Gokhale on X, alleging that the ECI had raised the dispute over the party symbol only after the Bengal bypolls were announced. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Election Commission's decisions should strengthen democratic values and enhance its prestige, further asking, "Have the affidavits we submitted to the Election Commission been received?"...