Kolkata, September 23 (Daily Kiran) : The Kolkata High Court has called for a report from the Election Commission of India (ECI) concerning its decision to allocate the ‘Envelope’ election symbol to a faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. This request was made during a hearing on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, the All India Secular Front (AISF) challenged the ECI’s ruling before Justice Krishna Rao’s bench. The AISF’s sole representative in the West Bengal Assembly is Naushad Siddiqui.
Along with the ‘Envelope’ symbol, the ECI also assigned the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ to Banerjee’s faction. In contrast, the AISF received the ‘Almirah’ symbol. This decision has sparked anger among AISF leaders, particularly Naushad Siddiqui, who previously won elections in 2021 and 2026 from the Bhangar constituency in South 24 Parganas using the ‘Envelope’ symbol.
Siddiqui initially raised objections to the ECI’s decision before taking the matter to the Kolkata High Court. The court heard the case on Wednesday and has scheduled another hearing for Thursday.
The AISF is not the only political party in West Bengal to receive a new election symbol from the ECI recently. The Common People’s Upliftment Party, founded by Humayun Kabir, was assigned the ‘Table’ symbol, replacing its previous ‘CT’ symbol. Kabir won elections earlier this year in the Murshidabad district’s Naoda and Rejinagar constituencies using the ‘CT’ symbol but did not object to the new allocation.
The AISF is preparing for upcoming elections in the Nandigram constituency of East Medinipur next month, while the Ajeyup is contesting in the Rejinagar assembly by-election. Voting for both constituencies will take place on October 6, with results expected on October 9.
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