Election Commission restricts TMC factions from using party name and symbol in bypolls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) in an interim order on Thursday (September 17, 2026) barred both factions of the Trinamool Congress from using the party symbol and name in the coming Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal.

The poll body asked both factions led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, to submit alternative names and symbols for their groups for the byelections by Friday 11 a.m.

The Congress termed the move a “bullet through the heart of Indian democracy”.

“The EC has once again proven that it is nothing more than a puppet in the hands of the BJP — a tool to destroy democracy bit by bit. They did it in the case of Shiv Sena, NCP, and now AITC — whoever opposes the BJP is dealt a fatal blow and their entire electoral existence is snatched away from them,” Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said in a post on X.

He said “freezing the AITC symbol — after a blatantly unconstitutional hijack by the BJP — is a bullet through the heart of Indian democracy. We condemn this move, and demand that the EC immediately restore the two leaves symbol to Mamata Banerjee ji”.

The ECI order came after the rival factions met the poll body on Thursday (September 17, 2026) for a hearing, the second in less than five days. The poll body had called both sides for a hearing earlier on September 12. The Ritabrata group had been asked to give some additional documents as well.

Thursday’s hearing came on the day when scrutiny of nominations for the bypolls, scheduled for October 6, ended. Both the factions have fielded candidates for the bypolls on the ‘Joda Ghas Phool’ symbol of the Trinamool Congress.

In its 14-page order, the EC said that on due consideration of the totality of information available on record with the commission, it was of the opinion that there were two rival groups in the All India Trinamool Congress, one led by Ms. Mamata Banerjee and the other led by Arup Roy (Ritabrata faction), and each group is now claiming to be the party and therefore the matter requires “substantive determination” by the commission under Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968.

The order was being given to place both the rival groups on an even keel and to protect their rights and interests.

The order said: “Neither of the two groups led by Arup Roy (petitioner) and other led by Mamata Banerjee (respondent) shall be permitted to use the name of the party ‘All India Trinamool Congress’.”

“Neither of the two groups shall be permitted to use the symbol ‘flowers and grass’, reserved for ‘All India Trinamool Congress’; both the groups shall be known by such names as they may choose for their respective groups, including, if they so desire, linkage with their parent party ‘All India Trinamool Congress’; and both the groups shall also be allotted such different symbols as they may choose from the list of free symbols notified by the Election Commission for the purposes of the current byelections”.

The poll body had taken a similar decision in the Shiv Sena split case.