Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Sep 19: Former West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India’s decision to freeze the original name and election symbol of the All India Trinamool Congress.

The plea is likely to be mentioned before the Chief Justice of India-led Bench on September 21 for urgent listing and hearing, according to reports.

The Election Commission on Friday allotted the name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the ‘Football Player’ symbol to the faction led by Mamata Banerjee. The rival faction was allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the ‘Envelope’ symbol for the upcoming bypolls. The interim names and symbols are applicable to the current by-election process.

The poll panel had on Thursday frozen the original “All India Trinamool Congress” name and its traditional ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol, directing the rival factions to choose new names and symbols pending a substantive determination of their competing claims under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

Banerjee on Friday described the Election Commission’s decision as a “Black Day” in the country’s democratic history and said she would continue to claim the original party name and symbol.

“We will not surrender. We will not bow our heads before political pressure. We will fight this battle democratically and legally,” she said, according to The New Indian Express.

Banerjee also said the organisation was built through nearly three decades of political struggle and that she could not abandon the All India Trinamool Congress, which she founded in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress.

The dispute over the party’s identity followed an internal rebellion, with rival groups staking claims to control of the organisation. The Election Commission has been examining submissions relating to the party’s organisational structure, authorised representatives, name and election symbol.

The Commission’s intervention came ahead of the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal, including Nandigram and Rejinagar, after both factions sought to contest under the original party identity. The poll panel subsequently put in place an interim arrangement allowing the factions to contest under separate names and symbols.

The Supreme Court challenge now brings the dispute over the original TMC name and symbol before the judiciary, while the Election Commission’s substantive proceedings on the competing claims remain pending.