Kolkata, Sept. 17 -- For the first time since Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998 and the party entered the electoral fray, the familiar TMC name and 'twin flowers & grass' symbol will be missing from the ballot during the October 6 bypolls, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issuing an interim order freezing the use of the TMC name and its symbol by both rival factions amid their competing claims over the party's organisational control.
The two factions were earlier heard by the ECI over their rival claims to the party, name and symbol. The poll panel has now asked both sides to submit three alternative names and three symbols by 11 am on Friday (September 18), with the ECI expected to allot alternative names and symbols ahead of the October 6 bypolls.
The deadline assumes significance as both factions are contesting the Rejinagar and Nandigram bypolls, while the Mamata Banerjee-led faction is also contesting in Assam.
The EC is expected to finalise the alternatives by Friday evening to allow the two camps to begin their campaigns.
The development has also cast uncertainty over the TMC's traditional symbol ahead of the civic elections expected to be held by December this year, with the dispute potentially affecting the party's electoral identity among voters.
Reacting to the interim order, MP Kalyan Banerjee, who is with the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, said: "The order is illegal and we need time to decide over the matter."
Akhruzzaman, Chief Whip of the Ritabrata camp, said the faction would hold a meeting early on Friday before submitting its choices of names and symbols to the ECI.
Before the interim order, Kalyan Banerjee had expressed confidence that the Mamata faction would retain the symbol, arguing that the rebel camp had failed to establish a valid organisational claim.
He had rejected the assertion that the TMC ceased to exist in 2025, saying the party constitution provides for organisational elections every five years, with the next scheduled for January 31, 2027. Banerjee had also cited the 2026 Assembly elections, when both camps contested under the TMC symbol, and the party's recognition as an Assembly bloc as evidence of its continued existence.
He alleged that the rival faction's organisational exercise had not followed the required grassroots-to-block process and lacked proper notice.
The Mamata faction had also opposed parallel proceedings in a civil court and before the EC, seeking a final decision from the poll panel on the party's name and symbol.
Ritabrata's faction submitted documents sought by the ECI and also expressed confidence that its claim would succeed.
With the interim order now freezing the original name and symbol, both factions are expected to consider their next legal course, including the possibility of approaching the Supreme Court after the ECI's final decision.
Meanwhile, Congress condemned the ECI's decision, alleging that it was abdication of constitutional responsibility by the poll body.
Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal alleged that freezing the TMC name and symbol was CEC Gyanesh Kumar's "late night birthday gift to Modi ji" after a "blatantly unconstitutional hijack by the BJP".
He alleged that TMC leaders who fought the BJP under Mamata Banerjee were now being encouraged to rebel against her and defect with the ECI's help. Calling the ECI a "puppet in the hands of the BJP", Venugopal said similar action had been taken in the cases of Shiv Sena and NCP.
"We condemn this move, and demand that the ECI immediately restore the two-leaf symbol to Mamata Banerjee ji," he said.
Congress media department head Pawan Khera said freezing the symbol was not "justice" but an "abdication of its constitutional responsibility". He said the breakaway TMC faction had "no legitimate claim" to the symbol, which, he argued, belongs to the party bearing the TMC name.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.