EC freezes TMC name, symbol for bypolls; rival factions told to pick new identities

For the first time since the Trinamool Congress began contesting elections under its own identity in 1998, candidates claiming to represent the party will enter an election without being allowed to use either its name or its familiar twin-flower symbol.

The Election Commission’s interim order has frozen both until it completes the substantive proceedings over which of the two rival factions represents the All India Trinamool Congress.

Bypolls face new TMC identities

The immediate impact of the order will be felt in the October 6 Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar. Both factions have already nominated candidates, but neither can now contest as the All India Trinamool Congress. Instead, each will have to choose a separate name and a separate free symbol from the Election Commission’s list.

Also read | Which TMC is the real TMC? Symbol battle heats up Bengal by-polls

The commission has given both groups until 11 am on Friday (September 18) to submit three names and three symbols in order of preference. One name and one symbol from each list will subsequently be allotted to the respective faction.

The Ritabrata-Aroop Roy faction argued that the previous national working committee of the TMC had completed its term and that the June 22 meeting which elected Aroop Roy as chairperson was constitutionally valid.

The Mamata faction disputed that interpretation, arguing that the rebel meeting did not follow the prescribed process.

The commission has not accepted either argument at this stage.

New symbols pose voter challenge

This creates an unusual situation in the two by-polls, with both factions having to go to voters in Nandigram and Rejinagar without the Trinamool’s familiar name and twin-flower symbol.

The candidates will have to establish their TMC identity through campaign messaging, while voters will have to identify them by unfamiliar symbols.

“It will obviously be difficult to familiarise voters with a new name and symbol when there are barely three weeks left for the bypolls,” said a leader of the Mamata Banerjee faction.

The challenge could deepen for the faction as party insiders say Banerjee is unlikely to campaign, having reportedly indicated that she would stay away if the party lost its symbol.

Rival nominees trigger EC scrutiny

The commission’s order came after both factions fielded rival candidates in the same seats, each claiming to be the authorised TMC nominee.

In Rejinagar, Sheikh Safiuzzaman was nominated with a Form B signed by Aroop Roy, while Rabiul Alam Chowdhury was nominated with Mamata Banerjee’s approval. In Nandigram, Ehteshamul Haque was backed by the Aroop Roy faction and Sanchita Pradhan De by the Mamata faction.

This left returning officers with an urgent question over which candidate was the official TMC nominee, while both factions claimed the same party name and symbol. The commission has kept the issue pending for now, leaving the final decision for a later hearing.

Mamata camp faces identity setback

The commission in its 14-page order says it will have to decide which faction is entitled to the party name and symbol under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. Until that decision is taken, the interim arrangement will remain in place.

For Mamata Banerjee, it is a greater blow because the order does not recognise her faction as the continuing TMC, despite her having founded the party after breaking away from the Congress in 1998. This leaves her faction having to rebuild the party’s electoral identity almost from scratch, at least for the two by-polls.

Also read | TMC split and fight for symbol: Who gets the twin flowers?

Without a leader of Mamata Banerjee’s stature and the established party identity, the rebel faction could find it difficult to establish a foothold among voters in the two by-polls.

However, the interim order gave the Aroop Roy-Ritabrata faction something to cheer about because, for the first time, the commission has formally recorded it as one of the two rival groups claiming the TMC identity.

Rival camp hails interim order

This does not give the faction recognition as the TMC, but it gives it a formal place in the dispute and puts its claim before the commission for a final decision.

The faction expectedly welcomed the interim order, although it had hoped to get the original symbol. “We had hoped that we would get the symbol. Given the urgency of the bypolls, we welcome the commission’s interim order,” said Akhruzzaman, one of the faction’s key leaders. He said the faction remained hopeful of getting the symbol permanently, pointing to the support it claimed from district presidents and other leaders.

The Mamata faction, however, refused to give any immediate reaction to the commission’s decision.