Bypoll deadline looming, EC keeps TMC factions guessing as it seeks responses in new letters
Times of India | 14 September 2026With EC not barring it from using the Trinamool symbol (two flowers rising from a single stem of grass), the Mamata-loyalist faction immediately decided to file nominations with the original symbol. Interpreting the EC letter, party MP and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee said on social media: “Election commission has not passed any interim order. Election commission has directed us to appear on 16 and 17 of this month. Our candidate will therefore contest with our party symbol.” The faction made fresh submissions at 5.20 pm on Sunday.
Ritabrata, however, did not find anything unusual in the EC letters. “I went through both letters. There is nothing unusual. We met the EC full bench yesterday and made our submissions, answering all queries. We have also submitted documents. The content of the letters addressed to Mamata Banerjee and us are the same. It is a routine process. We are hopeful that EC will come up with a decision,” Ritabrata said, adding, “Only the EC can decide who gets the symbol.”
After meeting the poll panel on Saturday for a meeting stretching beyond two hours, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien sent a two-page note to EC, pointing out that Mamata Banerjee was elected as the party chairperson in 2022 and according to the party constitution, she has a clear five-year term, and not three years as claimed by the rivals. It was after this that EC wrote back to Mamata and Ritabrata, seeking documents and responses.
Facing a similar situation in 2022, EC, in accordance with Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Order, froze the original Shiv Sena name and its bow and arrow symbol to maintain a level playing field in the Andheri East bypolls. In 2021, EC froze the Lok Janshakti Party’s name and the bungalow symbol ahead of a Bihar assembly bypoll. In both cases, the EC decision was made before the nomination filing deadline. Responding to this, O’Brien said, “We have examined the Shiv Sena case. We will not respond to speculations now.”
According to officials, in Trinamool’s case, EC may ask both factions to contest the bypolls without using the party’s name and symbol. Officials said EC usually treats such cases as “disputed” and does not allow either of the factions to contest elections using the party name and symbol until the dispute is resolved.
“In this year’s assembly elections, EC had directed district election authorities not to allow 25 registered but unrecognised parties to contest polls using their party names and symbols. The Commission directed authorities to treat their candidates as independents and allot them free symbols. Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha was among the parties on that list,” a senior official said. EC may follow a similar approach and direct district election authorities to treat candidates backed by the two factions as independents, the official added.
