The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee has questioned the timing of the Election Commission of India’s decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’ election symbol, alleging that the poll panel deliberately delayed its decision until after the nomination process for the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly by-elections had concluded.
In a statement posted on X, West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said the dispute over the Trinamool Congress’ symbol had been pending for some time and should have been resolved by the Election Commission earlier. He said the commission announced its decision on the same day that nominations for the two bypolls had ended and the scrutiny process had been completed. “This leaves a deep scope for suspicion about its motive,” Sarkar said.
The Congress leader said his party remained committed to the multi-party parliamentary system and described political competition and ideological differences as an integral part of a democracy. “If someone has to be defeated, we will do it through parliamentary democracy. If someone has to be politically wiped out, it will be done by the people of Bengal, by the verdict of the people,” he said.
Drawing a parallel with the Maharashtra disputes involving the Shiv Sena, Sarkar accused the Election Commission of playing a similar role in the Trinamool Congress symbol controversy. He further alleged that the poll panel was functioning like a “branch organization” of the BJP and accused it of attempting to eliminate a particular political party from the electoral arena. “This is a very dangerous signal for parliamentary democracy. We strongly condemn it,” Sarkar said.
At the same time, Subhankar Sarkar stressed that the Congress’ political opposition to the Trinamool Congress remained unchanged. “Our fight is against the political ideology of the Trinamool Congress. Our political fight against them is on and will continue,” he said. He accused the Trinamool government of having “murdered many of our workers”, occupying Congress offices and presiding over what he termed a period of “gross misrule” in West Bengal.
However, Subhankar Sarkar argued that political opposition to the Trinamool Congress could not justify the Election Commission allegedly acting at the BJP’s behest. “The servile attitude of the Election Commission is weakening the foundation of democracy,” he said, adding that the Congress “strongly protests” the decision.
Of course babe. Here’s the second half, written to follow the Congress section smoothly and explain the TMC-versus-TMC dispute and the ECI order in a clean news format.
The Election Commission’s decision to freeze the symbol came amid a dispute over control of the Trinamool Congress, with rival factions staking competing claims to the party. The commission on Thursday issued an interim order freezing the party’s reserved “flower” symbol until it makes a substantive determination on which faction represents the recognised political party.
The two sides are led by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Assembly Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, respectively. The ECI said the matter requires a “substantive determination” under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968. Until that process is completed, neither faction will be able to use the existing Trinamool symbol.
The order has particular significance for the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly by-elections, scheduled for October 6, as both factions will have to contest without the party’s existing reserved symbol. The commission has directed both groups to submit three preferred names and three choices of free symbols by 11 am on September 18.
