Mamata Banerjee, founder of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and former chief minister of West Bengal, has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) interim order freezing the TMC’s name and its traditional ‘flowers and grass’ symbol, issued in the midst of a dispute between rival factions within the party.
On Friday, 18 September, the election commission assigned distinct names and symbols to the two factions, a day after instructing both groups not to use the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ name or its reserved symbol until a final decision is made on the dispute under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
For the 6 October by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar, the faction headed by Banerjee was assigned the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ along with the ‘football player’ symbol, while the opposing faction received the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘envelope’ symbol.
In her petition to the Supreme Court, Banerjee has named the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, as respondents.
The plea contests the poll panel’s interim order issued after it heard representatives from the two opposing factions. The ECI stated that the dispute calls for a substantive decision under the Symbols Order.
The development comes after Banerjee’s strong criticism of the ECI on Thursday, when she called the freezing of the party’s name and its ‘flowers and grass’ symbol a "black day" in the nation’s democratic history.
She stated that she would not treat the interim arrangement as a final settlement and vowed to continue her efforts to restore the party’s original identity and symbol through political, democratic, and legal means.
Under the ECI’s decision, neither faction will be allowed to contest the upcoming by-polls using the party’s original name and symbol.
The newly assigned names and symbols are only temporary measures for the current electoral process.
The by-elections in Nandigram in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district are set to take place on 6 October, with the votes to be counted on 9 October.
