In a significant political development, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that her faction of the Trinamool Congress would support the Congress candidate in the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, hours after her party's nominee withdrew from the contest following a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The move came a day after the Election Commission froze the use of the Trinamool Congress' name and its traditional 'Jora Ghash Phul' (twin flowers and grass) symbol by the rival factions amid an ongoing dispute over the party's identity.
The poll panel on Friday allotted the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and the 'Football Player' symbol to the Banerjee-led faction, while the rival group led by Arup Roy was given the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and the 'Envelope' symbol for the October 6 bypolls.
Banerjee, while announcing support for the Congress in Nandigram, said the decision was aimed at strengthening the INDIA bloc. She said her faction would "fight and bounce back" and that a decision on support in Rejinagar would be taken later.
The announcement followed the withdrawal of nomination by Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the candidate fielded by the Banerjee faction in Nandigram. Pradhan Dey met Adhikari at the state secretariat, Nabanna, before withdrawing her candidature, a day before the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
Banerjee also attacked the Election Commission's decision to freeze her party's traditional name and symbol, calling it a "black day for democracy" and alleging that the BJP was seeking to weaken opposition parties.
"How can they (EC) freeze my symbol, which has been with us since the beginning for the last 28 years?" she said.
She alleged that the BJP had sought to weaken opposition parties in Maharashtra by splitting the Shiv Sena and the NCP and was now targeting the Trinamool Congress.
"We are not going to bow our heads and neither will we surrender. We will fight and bounce back," Banerjee said.
She also said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had spoken to her and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had expressed solidarity. "We will all fight together against the BJP," she said.
The development marks an unusual alignment between the Trinamool Congress and Congress in Nandigram, where the two parties have had a strained relationship in West Bengal politics.
The Congress had earlier claimed that the Banerjee-led faction had approached its central leadership over leaving the Nandigram seat to it for the bypoll, a claim rejected by the Trinamool Congress.
The Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls will be held on October 6, with counting scheduled for October 9.
(With inputs from PTI)
