Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Sep 18: The Election Commission on Thursday barred both rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) from using the party’s name and its ‘flowers and grass’ election symbol in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly bypolls, amid an ongoing dispute over control of the party.

The interim order affects the factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee. The bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar are scheduled to be held on October 6.

The poll panel has recognised the two rival groups and said it would adjudicate the dispute under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order. Pending a final decision, neither faction can use the party’s official name or its reserved election symbol in the by-election process.

The Election Commission directed both groups to submit names of their choice by 11 am on September 18. They may also retain a reference to the parent party, All India Trinamool Congress, in their proposed names. The factions will contest the bypolls using separately allotted names and free symbols until the dispute is resolved.

The dispute follows the TMC’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, which triggered an open rebellion within the party. Ritabrata Banerjee, a first-time MLA who was subsequently expelled from the TMC, emerged as the face of the rebel faction.

In early June, Ritabrata claimed the support of around 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs. The legislators backed his claim to lead the TMC legislature party, following which the Assembly Speaker recognised him as the Leader of the Opposition.

The rebel MLAs maintained that Mamata Banerjee remained their overall leader but called for changes in the party’s functioning, while opposing the role and influence of her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

On June 22, the Ritabrata-led faction claimed to have removed Mamata Banerjee as TMC chairperson and appointed senior MLA Arup Roy as chairperson of what it described as the “real TMC”. Mamata’s loyalists rejected the move and continued to recognise her as the party chief.

Both factions subsequently approached the Election Commission, staking competing claims to the party’s name and election symbol ahead of the bypolls. The Commission’s final decision will determine which faction, if either, will retain the reserved name and symbol.