'Vote Chori, Govt Chori, Now Party Chori': Rahul Gandhi Slams EC, BJP Over TMC Election Symbol Freeze

Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused BJP government and Election Commission of "party theft", adding to his allegations of "vote and governmenmt theft" after the poll conductiong body barred Trinamool Congress (TMC) from using party name and symbol in the upcoming bye-elections assembly in West Bengal.

In a post on X, Gandhi accused the poll body and the Bharatiya Janata Party of "joining forces" to divide political parties. Drawing parallels with the splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, he said the same pattern was now being repeated with the TMC.

“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,” Gandhi said.

"When an entire party can be stolen, it's hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too. Vote theft. Government theft. Now party theft—these have become symbols of our democratic decline. he added.

Rahul Gandhi reminded Election Commission of its constitutional responsibility of protecting the mandate, alleging that the poll body is "aiding those very forces that overturn the people’s verdict,” he said.

“This fight isn’t just Mamata Banerjee’s. It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” Gandhi added.

His comments followed an interim Election Commission order barring both TMC factions—one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Arup Roy—from using the party’s established name and symbol in the bypolls. The two groups will be required to contest under separate names and symbols allotted by the Commission until it issues a final ruling.

The poll panel said the rival factions had each claimed to represent the “real” TMC, making a detailed examination necessary under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It maintained that the interim arrangement, based on previous cases, was intended to place both sides on an “even keel”.

The dispute was brought before the Commission in July after the factions filed competing claims over the party’s leadership, name and election symbol. Both groups have since submitted documents and appeared before the panel, which has sought information relating to organisational control, authorised signatories and party assets.