Football player vs Envelope: Rival TMC factions get symbols

The symbol became a potent expression of the party's grassroots identity for the last 28 years.

New Delhi: The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of Trinamool Congress on Friday, September 18, got the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’, while its rival group led by Arup Roy got the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ ahead of the October 6 bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, an Election Commission order said.

According to the order, the Mamata faction got ‘Football Player’ as its election symbol, while the group led by Roy got ‘Envelope’ as its poll emblem.

In an interim order issued on Thursday night, the Election Commission directed the two sides, locked in a dispute over who gets to use the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) name, not to use the party name and its ‘Jora Ghash Phul’ (two flowers with grass) symbol for the upcoming bypolls, and asked them to submit their preferred names and emblems by Friday morning.

The EC said the proposed names could be similar to AITC, while the symbols must be chosen from a list of free or available symbols notified for Independents and registered unrecognised political parties.

Assembly bypolls to Nandigram in the East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in the Murshidabad district are scheduled for October 6, with vote counting on October 9.

The poll panel said the time available was not enough to complete the proceedings under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, but noted the urgency for the party name and symbol for the by-elections.

The EC said the interim arrangement was made specifically to cover the upcoming bypolls and would remain in force until the dispute is finally determined under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order.

The EC order comes against the backdrop of a rebellion in the TMC legislature party after the Assembly poll defeat in May, which later spread to Parliament.

In June, 58 rebel MLAs elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly instead of the Mamata camp nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and secured recognition from the Speaker, marking the party’s first split in its 28-year history.

Five days later, the revolt reached Parliament, with 20 Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar joining the little-known NCPI and writing to Speaker Om Birla backing the BJP-led NDA as a “separate bloc”, deepening the rupture in the party’s parliamentary ranks.

The move is a setback for Mamata, whose hand-drawn symbol has been central to TMC’s journey since its formation in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress.

The symbol became a potent expression of the party’s grassroots identity for the last 28 years.

The bypolls were necessitated as Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, and chose to vacate Nandigram, while AJUP leader Humayun Kabir won from both Naoda and Rejinagar, and decided to give up the Rejinagar seat.

Hours after the EC assigned the Mamata-led faction a new party name and symbol, her Nandigram bypoll candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination a day before the deadline. In a press conference, Mamata Banerjee said they will “support Congress in the Nandigram bypoll to strengthen the INDIA bloc”.

How factions react

Hitting back at the EC, former chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “BJP plus one team has announced that they don’t like Trinamool; they don’t like Jora Phool. They prefer to cover up their own families’ cases and corruption. They have removed the symbol of the Trinamool Congress and made it clear that they don’t like Trinamool; they don’t like Jora Phool. They are BJP’s A team now…”

Meanwhile, Ritabrata sought to turn the EC’s allocation of the name Democratic Trinamool Congress into a political statement in itself. “This highlights the nature of a party driven by an individual cult,” he said, referring to the Mamata-led faction being allotted the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress.