The Trinamool Congress, led by founder and chairperson Mamata Banerjee, has submitted its response to the Election Commission’s interim order temporarily barring the use of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) name and its ‘flowers and grass’ symbol for the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal.
According to sources, the party emailed its choices of alternative names and symbols to the poll panel at 11.36 pm on Thursday, submitting them “under strongest protest”.
In its interim order issued on Thursday night, the Election Commission directed the two rival factions in the AITC dispute not to use the party’s name or its ‘flowers and grass’ symbol for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls. It also asked both sides to submit their preferred names and symbols by Friday morning.
The EC said the proposed name could be similar to All India Trinamool Congress, and the symbol must be chosen from the list of free or available symbols notified for independents and registered unrecognised political parties.
The bypolls to Rejinagar and Nandigram are scheduled for October 6.
The poll panel said the time available was not enough to complete the proceedings under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, but noted the urgency of the party name and symbol for the upcoming by-elections.
The EC said the interim arrangement was made specifically to cover the upcoming bypolls and would remain in force until the dispute is finally determined under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order.
The EC order comes against the backdrop of a rebellion that began in the TMC legislature party after the Assembly poll defeat in May and later spread to Parliament. In June, 58 rebel MLAs elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition instead of the Mamata camp's nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker, marking the party's first split in its 28-year history.
Five days later, the revolt reached Parliament, with 20 Lok Sabha MPs led by senior leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar joining the little-known NCPI and writing to Speaker Om Birla, backing the BJP-led NDA as a "separate bloc", deepening the rupture in the party's parliamentary ranks.
The move is a setback for Mamata, whose hand-drawn symbol has been central to TMC's journey since its formation in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress. The "flowers and grass" symbol became a potent expression of the party's grassroots identity for the last 28 years.
(With inputs from PTI)
