New Delhi: Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court against the Election Commission of India’s interim decision preventing rival groups from using the party’s name and its reserved election symbol.
The petition was filed on Friday and registered as Diary No. 58005/2026. Banerjee has named the Election Commission, its secretary and Trinamool Congress leader Ritabrata Banerjee as respondents.
EC Freezes Name, Symbol
The Supreme Court challenge followed the poll panel’s September 17 order in a dispute case concerning the All India Trinamool Congress. The ECI said the party’s “Flowers & Grass” symbol could not be used by either faction until the dispute was finally resolved under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968,as reported by ap7am.com.
The Commission also barred both sides from using the name “All India Trinamool Congress” on its own. It directed the factions to submit alternative names and symbols for candidates contesting the forthcoming by-elections.
The ECI said the case involved two rival groups, one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Arup Roy, with both claiming to represent the party. It observed that there was insufficient time to complete a substantive determination under Paragraph 15 before the by-elections.
The interim arrangement was intended to give both groups an equal footing and safeguard their interests until the Commission reaches a final decision.
The order has immediate consequences for the October 6 by-elections in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar constituencies. The Returning Officers for both seats received nominations from candidates claiming to represent the TMC, with separate authorisation letters issued by the two rival camps.
Factions Submit Rival Claims
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction has rejected the ECI’s intervention and continued to assert that she remains the legitimate leader of the party.
The rival camp, represented by Ritabrata Banerjee and backed by Arup Roy, has questioned the validity of organisational appointments made by the Mamata-led group. It has argued that the tenure of the party’s National Working Committee ended on February 11, 2025, and that subsequent decisions taken in its name were unauthorised.
According to the ECI order, the rival group held a special session in Kolkata on June 22 and claimed to have elected Arup Roy as chairperson of the National Working Committee. The Mamata faction, however, has disputed the legality of that meeting and questioned whether proper notice was issued to party members and stakeholders.
The disagreement has also involved party records, appointments, bank accounts and communications with constitutional authorities. Civil proceedings are pending before a court in Alipore, where an interim injunction was issued in July and subsequently extended on September 16. The court made clear that the injunction did not affect the ECI’s authority over the reserved election symbol.
Following its September 17 order, the Commission asked both groups to submit three preferred names and three free symbols by 11 a.m. on September 18. The alternatives would be used for the current by-elections until the final decision in the dispute.
Dispute Reaches Legislatures
The organisational confrontation has extended to the functioning of the party in Parliament and state institutions.
The rival group has sought recognition for its representatives and questioned the authority of leaders appointed by the Mamata faction. The two sides have separately communicated with the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Rajya Sabha chairman and other constitutional bodies regarding their claims to represent the TMC.
The Mamata-led group has maintained that the rival side’s organisational decisions were taken without authority and contrary to the party constitution. It has urged the ECI to recognise the office-bearers and National Working Committee submitted by its faction.
The rival camp, meanwhile, has claimed that the existing National Working Committee no longer had a valid mandate and that the special session was convened to restore the party’s organisational structure.
The two sides presented their arguments before the ECI on September 17. A delegation representing Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee appeared before the Commission at 3 p.m., while the Mamata Banerjee-led delegation was heard an hour later.
The Commission’s final ruling will determine which faction, if any, is entitled to represent the All India Trinamool Congress and use its reserved symbol. Until then, both groups will have to contest the by-elections under separate names and symbols allotted from the list of free symbols.
