EC invites Trinamool factions for meeting over party symbol, name

In letters to Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, both dated September 9, the poll body has asked them to come for meetings at 11 a.m. and noon, respectively, at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, Dwarka, in the national capital.

The meetings come ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar, for which the nomination process began on Wednesday (September 9) and closes on September 16. Both factions have said that they would field candidates in the bypolls and have claimed the ‘Joda Ghash Phool’ symbol of the Trinamool.

Going by the precedent in the Shiv Sena case, sources said the poll body was likely to freeze the party symbol temporarily. In October 2022, ahead of the Andheri East Assembly bypoll, the Commission had passed an interim order saying that neither the Eknath Shinde faction nor the Uddhav Thackeray group of the Shiv Sena could use the name “Shiv Sena” or the symbol “bow and arrow”. Both groups had to choose their own names, including a link to the parent party name if they wished, and pick alternate symbols from the Commission’s list of free symbols. This freeze was meant only for the bypoll.

Mr. Ritabrata leads a group of around 60 of the 80 elected Trinamool MLAs who broke ranks with Ms. Mamata following the party’s defeat to the BJP in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

Interestingly, it remains to be seen whether Ms. Banerjee enters the poll fray from Nandigram or Rejinagar constituencies.