The ‘rebel’ camp within the Trinamool Congress, led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Ritabrata Banerjee, has submitted a list of three alternative party names and symbols to the Election Commission of India (ECI), following the poll body’s decision to freeze the party’s existing name and election symbol amid an internal dispute.
According to the list accessed by this publication, the rebel faction has proposed:
1. Nationalist Trinamool Congress,
2.Democratic Trinamool Congress and
3.West Bengal Trinamool Congress
as possible names for the group. It has also suggested three symbols — an envelope, a torch and a blackboard — for consideration by the poll panel.
Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee has responded to the Election Commission as part of the process, with the rebel camp now awaiting the poll body’s decision on the proposed names and symbols.
The development comes against the backdrop of a widening dispute over the Trinamool Congress’s organisational identity and its representation ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly bypolls.
The ECI’s freezing of the existing party name and the ‘Flowers and Grass’ (Jora Phool) symbol has effectively put the two rival camps on separate electoral footing for the bypolls, pending further proceedings.
The Trinamool Congress’s ‘Jora Phool’ (twin flower) symbol has long been closely associated with the party and its electoral campaigns in West Bengal. The latest move therefore adds another layer to the ongoing factional contest, as both sides seek recognition and a distinct electoral identity before the polls.
This is a breaking story. More details will be added soon.
