Huge blow to Mamata Banerjee: ECI freezes TMC name and symbol, asks both factions to pick new names

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered the freezing of the “name” and “symbol” of the Trinamool Congress as a political party for the time being, affecting both factions of the party.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered the freezing of the “name” and “symbol” of the Trinamool Congress as a political party for the time being, affecting both factions of the party.

The two factions are the “original but minority” faction led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee and the “rebel but majority” faction led by expelled party legislator Ritabrata Banerjee.

The ECI order means that neither the Mamata Banerjee-led faction nor the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction can use the party’s name or symbol in any election until the Commission takes a final decision on the matter.

The decision came hours after the ECI’s full bench met five-member delegations from both factions at the Commission’s headquarters in New Delhi earlier on Thursday.

The order also has a direct bearing on the upcoming by-elections in the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and the Rejinagar Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district. The bypolls are scheduled for October 6, with the results to be declared on October 9.

However, the situation has become more complicated because the last date for filing nominations for the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls was September 16. This could be why the scrutiny of nominations filed by candidates from both factions has been kept on hold until Friday afternoon.

According to the ECI order released on Thursday night, both factions have been asked to inform the Commission of their newly chosen “names” and “symbols” by 11 a.m. on Friday.

If either faction fails to provide its new name and symbol within the given deadline, both factions will be out of the race in the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls.

Reacting to the order, Kalyan Banerjee, a four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and the most prominent political and legal face of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, described the decision as unconstitutional.

Speaking to the media, Banerjee said his faction was not accepting the order.

“We will do whatever is required now. But as of now, if we have to choose a symbol, we have that till 11 a.m. on Friday. We are not accepting this order. Just as illegal things have to be accepted temporarily, this too has to be accepted,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress legislator Akhruzzaman, the official Chief Whip of the party’s legislative group in the West Bengal Assembly, welcomed the ECI’s decision.

“We are confident that finally, we will have the right over the party name and symbol,” he said.

(with IANS inputs)
 

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