The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has submitted its choices of alternative party names and election symbols to the Election Commission of India (ECI), but made it clear that the submission was made “under strongest protest” against the poll panel’s interim order freezing the party’s established identity for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls.
The party sent its response by email at 11.36 pm on Thursday, hours after the Election Commission directed both rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) to stop using the party’s name and its ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol for the October 6 bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar.
The Commission has asked both factions to submit three preferred names and three symbols from its list of available symbols. The interim arrangement is specifically applicable to the forthcoming bypolls and will remain in force until the Commission reaches a final determination in the dispute under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
The Mamata camp has opposed the Election Commission’s decision. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee questioned the legal basis of the interim order, saying the party did not accept it but would comply with the arrangement for the time being. The rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee, meanwhile, has indicated that it will accept the temporary arrangement.
How the TMC dispute reached the Election Commission?
The latest development follows an internal rebellion within the Trinamool Congress after the party’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The dispute subsequently escalated into a contest over the party’s organisational control, leadership, assets, name and election symbol. The rival camps eventually approached the Election Commission, each claiming to represent the legitimate TMC.
The Election Commission, citing the competing claims and the limited time available before the bypolls, decided to put the established party identity on hold rather than complete the substantive adjudication immediately. The Commission said the interim arrangement was intended to address the immediate electoral requirement while the larger dispute is considered under Paragraph 15.
The ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol has been closely associated with the TMC since the party was founded by Mamata Banerjee in 1998, after she broke away from the Congress. The symbol has remained a central part of the party’s electoral identity for nearly three decades.
With the October 6 bypolls approaching, both factions will now have to campaign under separate temporary identities. The Election Commission’s eventual decision on the competing claims will determine which group is recognised as entitled to the established TMC name and symbol.
