Mamata Moves SC Over TMC Name, Symbol Freeze
Banerjee challenges EC order barring rival factions from using the Trinamool Congress name and ‘Flowers & Grass’ symbol
- Mamata Banerjee filed a Supreme Court plea against the EC’s September 17 interim order.
- EC has temporarily barred both factions from using the original TMC name and symbol.
- Mamata’s faction has been allotted “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the “Football Player” symbol.
- The rival faction has been allotted “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the “Envelope” symbol for the upcoming bypolls.
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 19th Sept: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s interim order freezing the “All India Trinamool Congress” name and its reserved “Flowers & Grass” election symbol amid a dispute between rival factions. The petition was filed on September 18, with the Election Commission and the rival faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee named as respondents.
The Election Commission’s September 17 interim order directed the rival factions to contest the upcoming West Bengal bypolls under separate names and symbols. The move followed claims by the two groups over the party’s organisational control and identity.
The poll panel subsequently allotted the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the “Football Player” symbol to the faction led by Mamata Banerjee. The rival faction was allotted “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the “Envelope” symbol. The arrangements are temporary and apply to the upcoming by-elections.
The legal challenge comes amid developments surrounding the Nandigram bypoll. Mamata Banerjee’s faction’s candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew from the contest after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Banerjee subsequently announced support for Congress candidate Milan Pradhan.
Pradhan was later arrested in connection with a 2007 Nandigram murder case. Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, described the arrest as “political revenge”, while the rival Trinamool faction has maintained that it had lodged a complaint against Pradhan and that pending criminal proceedings were being acted upon.
The developments have added another layer to the ongoing dispute over the Trinamool Congress’s name and electoral symbol, with the Supreme Court challenge now placing the Election Commission’s interim arrangement under judicial scrutiny.
