Assam TMC Withdraws From Nagaon Bypoll
Party protests EC freeze on original Trinamool Congress name and ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol
GG News Bureau
Guwahati, 19th Sept: The Assam unit of the Trinamool Congress has decided not to contest the upcoming Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, protesting the Election Commission’s decision to temporarily freeze the party’s original name and election symbol. The bypoll is scheduled for October 6.
The party had nominated educationist Abdul Salam as its candidate for the Nagaon seat. Assam TMC convenor and MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed said the state unit supported Mamata Banerjee’s position and described the Election Commission’s move as unjust and undemocratic.
The Election Commission had on September 17 barred the rival factions from using the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ name and the party’s traditional ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol for the upcoming bypolls amid the ongoing organisational dispute.
On September 18, the poll panel allotted the Mamata Banerjee-led faction the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol. The rival faction was allotted ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Envelope’ symbol. The arrangement is interim and will remain in force pending the Commission’s final decision on the factional dispute.
The Nagaon bypoll was necessitated after former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the party and subsequently joined the BJP.
The Assam TMC’s withdrawal adds another dimension to the dispute over the Trinamool Congress’s organisational identity, with the Election Commission’s interim arrangement now affecting the party’s participation in the Nagaon contest.
