New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- The Election Commission has temporarily frozen the All India Trinamool Congress name and its 'Flowers and Grass' symbol amid the ongoing dispute between the factions led by Mamata Banerjee and rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee.
Ahead of the October 6 bypolls, both groups were directed to submit three alternative names and three preferred symbols from the list of free symbols. The interim arrangement is intended to keep both factions on an equal footing while the poll panel examines their competing claims to the party's identity. The Mamata Banerjee-led faction proposed names including 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress', 'All India Trinamool Congress' and 'Trinamool Mamata Congress'. Its preferred symbols reportedly included options linked to sports, reflecting the party's earlier 'Khela Hobe' slogan.
The Election Commission subsequently allotted the Mamata-led faction the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and the 'football player' symbol. The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction submitted three alternative names - 'Nationalist Trinamool Congress', 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and 'West Bengal Trinamool Congress'. Its proposed symbols included a blackboard, torch and envelope. The dispute has its roots in an organisational challenge within the Trinamool Congress following the party's defeat in the April Assembly elections. Ritabrata Banerjee, a first-time MLA who was later expelled from the party, emerged as a leading figure among the rebels. The rebel camp claimed the party's previous National Working Committee had completed its term and questioned the validity of subsequent organisational decisions.
The Mamata Banerjee faction has rejected that argument, maintaining that the rival group is relying on outdated provisions of the party constitution while overlooking later amendments. It has also questioned the process through which the rebel camp sought to restructure the party organisation. The Election Commission has not yet decided which faction has the legitimate claim to the Trinamool Congress identity. Its interim order prevents both groups from using the original party name and 'Flowers and Grass' symbol during the relevant bypoll process while the substantive dispute is examined. The immediate electoral test will include the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal's Nandigram and Rejinagar constituencies. The commission's intervention followed the submission of competing nomination papers by candidates claiming to represent the Trinamool Congress in the affected seats.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.