The Election Commission on Friday allotted separate names and election symbols to the two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, temporarily freezing the party’s 28-year-old identity.
The faction led by Mamata Banerjee has been allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol, while the group led by Arup Roy (Ritabrata Banerjee camp) has been given the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Envelope’ symbol, according to an EC order.
The decision follows the poll panel’s interim order on Thursday night barring both factions from using the name ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ and its reserved ‘Jora Ghash Phul’ (two flowers and grass) symbol in the upcoming bypolls.
The Commission had directed the rival groups to submit three choices each for alternative names and symbols, with the names permitted to retain a linkage to the parent party. The symbols were required to be chosen from the list of free symbols notified for Independents and registered unrecognised political parties.
The EC said the time available before the bypolls was insufficient to complete the proceedings under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, but stressed the need to provide the rival groups with names and symbols for the elections.
The interim arrangement will remain in force until the Commission takes a final decision on the dispute under Paragraph 15, it said.
The bypolls to Nandigram in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district are scheduled for October 6, with counting on October 9.
The EC’s order comes amid a deepening organisational split in the Trinamool Congress following the party’s defeat in the May Assembly elections.
The dispute subsequently spread to the Parliament, with rival groups staking competing claims to the party’s organisational structure and political identity.
The freezing of the party name and symbol marks a significant break with the Trinamool Congress’s established electoral identity. The ‘Jora Ghash Phul’ symbol, which has been associated with the party since its formation in 1998 after Mamata Banerjee’s break with the Congress, has been a defining feature of its electoral campaigns.
The EC has said that both factions will be treated separately for the purpose of the upcoming bypolls while the substantive dispute over control of the party remains pending.
The bypolls were necessitated after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur and chose to vacate Nandigram, while AJUP leader Humayun Kabir won from both Naoda and Rejinagar and decided to give up the Rejinagar seat.
(With inputs from PTI)