TMC Faction Suggests New Names, Symbols After EC Bars Party Name For Bypolls

A faction of the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee on Friday proposed three temporary party names and symbols including a cricket bat and a footballer without a football, after the Election Commission barred both rival factions from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and its election symbol for upcoming bypolls.

The restriction applies to the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies and Assam’s Nagaon parliamentary constituency.

The Mamata Banerjee-led faction proposed the names All India Trinamool Mamata Congress, All India Mamata Trinamool Congress and Mamata Trinamool Congress.

EC Asks Both Factions For Temporary Names, Symbols

The three-member Election Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and comprising Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, directed both factions to submit three preferred temporary names and three choices from the list of available symbols by 11 am on Friday.

In its 14-page interim order, the poll panel said both factions could retain a visual or textual reference to the parent party in their temporary names.

The commission said the interim arrangement was intended to place “both the rival groups on even keel and to protect their rights and interests” until it reaches a final decision on the organisational dispute.

The order followed conflicting Form-B nomination papers submitted by candidates from the rival factions under the TMC banner for the bypolls in West Bengal and Assam.

The EC said the restriction on the party’s existing name and symbol would remain in place until it decides the competing claims under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

The commission held back-to-back hearings in New Delhi on Thursday. A delegation led by Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee appeared before the panel at 3 pm, followed by a delegation representing Mamata Banerjee and led by Kalyan Banerjee at 4 pm. The two sides had also appeared before the commission on September 12.

The poll panel said determining the competing organisational claims on merit would require more time and could not be completed before the ongoing bypoll schedule.

Rahul Gandhi Accuses BJP, EC Of ‘Party Theft’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the EC’s decision, alleging that the BJP and the poll panel were working together to weaken opposition parties.

In a post on X, Gandhi referred to earlier disputes involving the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, alleging that a similar pattern was now unfolding in the TMC.

“First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress,” Gandhi said, alleging that election symbols had been taken away after parties were split.

Gandhi further alleged that the Election Commission was failing to fulfil its constitutional responsibility to protect voters and was instead helping forces that overturn election results.

The Election Commission has not accepted these allegations. Its interim order does not decide the merits of the competing claims over control of the TMC and only sets out an arrangement for the bypolls while the substantive proceedings continue.