Footballer vs Envelope: TMC factions get set for bypoll battle with new names, symbols

The Election Commission on Friday (September 18) allowed the two rival Trinamool Congress factions to contest the October 6 bypolls under separate names and symbols, denying both the familiar All India Trinamool Congress name and the twin-flower symbol for now.

The commission allotted Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the Football Player symbol to Mamata Banerjee’s faction, while deciding that the Arup Roy-Ritabrata Banerjee faction will contest as Democratic Trinamool Congress with the Envelope symbol.

Nandigram setback for Mamata

According to the EC order, both groups will be treated as recognised political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura during the interim arrangement.

The decision means the two factions, which have been fighting over the original party’s name and symbol, will now have to face voters in Nandigram and Rejinagar under identities unfamiliar to the electorate, even as both claim the legacy of the TMC founded by Mamata.

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

The faction led by Mamata, however, will begin its electoral journey with a setback in Nandigram, after its candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her candidature soon after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Kolkata.

Dey had described the meeting as a visit to seek the chief minister’s blessings, but her withdrawal from the fray has given the BJP another opportunity to corner Mamata. With the scrutiny of nominations already over, the Mamata faction cannot now replace her with another candidate in the Nandigram by-poll. Mamata later announced that her faction would support the Congress candidate in Nandigram to strengthen the INDIA Bloc, while a decision on Rejinagar would be taken soon and her party would not contest the Assam by-poll in the “greater interest of the nation”.

Why Mamata faction insisted on her name

The commission, however, made it clear that the arrangement is temporary and will remain in force until it takes a final decision on the leadership and organisational dispute.

But for the upcoming by-polls, the order has already changed the contour of the contest, forcing both factions to campaign without the name and symbol that have identified the TMC since it began contesting elections in 1998.

All three names proposed by the Mamata camp included her name, All India Trinamool Mamata Congress, All India Mamata Trinamool Congress and Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, while the poll panel finally allotted the third name.

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

Party sources said the insistence on using Mamata’s name was intended to make it easier for voters to identify her faction when another group would also be contesting under a name containing Trinamool Congress.

With the twin flowers no longer available, the name of the party’s founder and principal electoral face becomes the most direct identifier of the faction she leads, party insiders claimed.

‘Khela Hobe’ message in symbol

The choice also points to a further personalisation of the party’s electoral identity. For years, Mamata’s face and the twin flowers have been almost inseparable from the TMC brand. The new name takes that association a step further by formally putting her name into the party’s electoral identity.

The symbols proposed by the party too appear to have a similar political calculation behind them, according to party sources.

Mamata’s faction had proposed a cricket bat and a football player, both with an obvious link to “Khela Hobe (game on)”, the slogan that became a defining feature of the TMC’s 2021 Assembly campaign and was later used in the party’s political messaging. The commission allotted the football player.

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

The party believes the footballer symbol would allow the faction to retain that political association even after losing the twin flowers.

The message behind the new symbol would be that the symbol may have changed, but the “khela” continues, said a party leader.

Rival faction draws strength from ‘democracy’

The Arup-Ritabrata faction, meanwhile, has received a name that fits its political argument even though it was not its preferred choice.

The group had proposed Nationalist Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Trinamool Congress and Democratic Trinamool Congress. The commission allotted the third.

Ritabrata said the faction’s first choice was Nationalist Trinamool Congress and the second West Bengal Trinamool Congress, but the commission allotted their third choice. He said the group had received its first choice of symbol and respected the commission’s decision.

The word “democratic”, however, gives the faction a ready political line at a time when it is accusing the Mamata-led organisation of becoming centred on one family.

“There is no individual’s name in our party’s name. Absolutely not. The inclusion of an individual’s name was never part of our discussions. We are emphasising democracy. This is not a privately owned party. Such a thing is harmful to democracy,” Ritabrata said.

Also read: Bengal's Didi shield cracks: How Mamata Banerjee lost the state she dominated

His camp can now use the Democratic Trinamool Congress to reinforce their claim that they are seeking to change the way the party functions.

There is also a fresh complication over the envelope symbol. The Indian Secular Front (ISF) has used the envelope as its election symbol and has also entered the electoral contest. This presents a confusion.

With both ISF and Democratic Trinamool Congress candidates already in the fray, the commission will have to decide which party can use the symbol before the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ends on Saturday (September 19).