KOLKATA: The battle for control of the Trinamool Congress escalated on Wednesday as the rival faction led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee approached the Election Commission of India (ECI), staking claim to the party's symbol and organisational control.
The ECI has scheduled a hearing with the Ritabrata camp before its full bench at around 12 noon on Thursday.
The delegation, comprising Ritabrata Banerjee and nine rebel MLAs who claim to represent the "real Trinamool", will meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the other Election Commissioners at Nirvachan Sadan.
Political observers said the meeting assumes significance as the Mamata Banerjee-led faction has already lodged two police complaints against the dissident group, while Kolkata Police denied permission to both camps to hold separate July 21 'Martyrs' Day' rallies at Esplanade.
"We had made a submission before the Election Commission and were trying to meet the Chief Election Commissioner to stake our claim. The CEC has agreed to hear us before a full bench of the Election Commission," Ritabrata Banerjee told reporters before leaving for New Delhi.
"When we sit before the bench on Thursday, we will present our case," he added.
The 10-member delegation also includes former state minister Snehasis Chakraborty.
The Ritabrata faction had earlier held a meeting at a hotel in New Town on June 21, where it constituted a 30-member national working committee, claiming to be the "real Trinamool". Veteran Howrah Central MLA Arup Roy was appointed chairman of the committee, replacing Mamata Banerjee, while Abhishek Banerjee was removed as the party's national general secretary.
On June 23, the dissident legislators also met the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to stake claim to the party's symbol and subsequently informed the ECI of the discussions while seeking an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner.
Meanwhile, Dola Sen, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Mamata Banerjee camp, lodged separate complaints at Kalighat and New Town police stations on Sunday against the rebel legislators led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
She accused the dissident leaders of using the party's name, symbol and organisational designations to mislead party workers and supporters.
The complaint at Kalighat police station named Ritabrata Banerjee along with Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Biplab Mitra.
According to sources, the complaint at New Town police station sought an investigation into those who allegedly masterminded the meeting of the dissident MLAs and Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillors.
The Mamata Banerjee camp also sought a probe into the source of funds allegedly being used to organise meetings, print publicity material and run social media campaigns in the party's name.
It further questioned the legitimacy of positions claimed by the rebel leaders, citing a recent communication by Ritabrata Banerjee to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose in which he described himself as the party's "general secretary" - a designation which, according to the Mamata camp, has never been conferred on him by the organisation.
Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, empowers the Election Commission to decide disputes over a recognised party's symbol when rival factions each claim to be the legitimate organisation.
The provision states that after examining all relevant facts and hearing representatives of the rival groups, the Commission may recognise one faction - or neither - as the official political party, and its decision would be binding on all factions.
In recent years, the Election Commission recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the official Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led NCP were allotted new party symbols.
