It had given the rebel faction led by West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee three extensions in the last two months.
While Mamata Banerjee met this deadline, Ritabrata Banerjee sought another week, according to the Election Commission’s interim order.
Despite her objection, the Election Commission gave the leader of the rebel faction time till July 25 to file his reply.
Only the Mamata Banerjee faction had nominated a candidate from the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam.
At that time, Mamata Banerjee had already submitted her reply to the Election Commission, while the Ritabrata Banerjee faction had got an extension.
The Election Commission decision on Thursday to bar both factions of the Trinamool Congress from using the party symbol and name in upcoming bye-elections followed repeated delays by the rebel faction.
Thursday’s order holds for the bye-elections scheduled for October 6 for two Assembly seats in West Bengal and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam. The last date for candidates to file their nomination papers for the contest was September 16.
In the interim order, the Election Commission noted that settling the dispute over which faction can legitimately claim to be Trinamool Congress “requires a substantive determination” and that the “time available is not adequate”.
However, the same order shows that the Election Commission had repeatedly yielded to the rebel faction’s requests for more time to submit documents to support its claims. It had given the rebel faction led by West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee three extensions in the last two months.
The order does not explain why this was done. Scroll has asked the Election Commission about this. This report will be updated if it responds.
Deadline after deadline
The dispute between the rival factions of the Trinamool Congress for control of the party and its election symbol dates back to June. The previous month, the party had been swept out of power in its bastion of West Bengal by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The tussle began when Ritabrata Banerjee wrote to the Election Commission challenging former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s authority to appoint party office bearers. Trinamool politicians allied with the former chief minister, in turn, shot off letters to the commission countering his claims.
The Election Commission shared these letters with the leaders of both factions on July 2 and asked them to send in their replies by July 6. While Mamata Banerjee met this deadline, Ritabrata Banerjee sought another week, according to the Election Commission’s interim order. It gave him till July 10 to file his reply.
Mamata Banerjee arrives at an event in Kolkata to mark the foundation day of her party's students' wing. Credit: @AITCOfficial/X
On July 10, Ritabrata Banerjee wrote to the Election Commission claiming he was “diligently engaged in procurement of necessary documents for the purpose of submitting a complete and effective response” and needed 15 more days to do so. Thursday’s order states that Mamata Banerjee categorically objected to these requests.
Despite her objection, the Election Commission gave the leader of the rebel faction time till July 25 to file his reply. Ritabrata Banerjee failed to meet even this deadline and, on July 25, asked for another 10-day extension.
The order does not state how the Election Commission responded to this request.
All it says is that Ritabrata Banerjee finally submitted his reply on September 11, over two months after he was originally supposed to do so.
Time for polls
By then, the Election Commission had notified the schedule for bye-elections for the Rejinagar and Nandigram assembly constituencies in West Bengal and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in next-door Assam.
Both factions of the Trinamool Congress fielded candidates from Rejinagar and Nandigram in West Bengal. Only the Mamata Banerjee faction had nominated a candidate from the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam. On Friday, it withdrew from the contest in Nagaon and decided to support the Congress candidate in Nandigram.
This became necessary because Sanchita Pradhan, the group’s candidate in Nandigram, withdrew her nomination. Hours before, photographs of her meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had been shared online.
The Trinamool’s flowers-and-grass symbol has been associated with the party for nearly three decades. On Friday, the Election Commission cleared new symbols and party names which the two factions may use for now.
With less than three weeks to go before voting takes place in the two Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, candidates face the uphill task of going door-to-door to inform voters about their new symbols.
The Election Commission’s handling of the dispute did not sit well with the Mamata Banerjee faction from the start.
“This issue cannot simply be left hanging,” Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, a prominent leader of this camp, had said at a news conference in Delhi on July 13. At that time, Mamata Banerjee had already submitted her reply to the Election Commission, while the Ritabrata Banerjee faction had got an extension.
“Why has this additional time and special treatment been given to the other side after they failed to meet the original deadline?” Moitra had asked then. “That is not how a fair process is supposed to work. You cannot have a compromised referee.”
