Kolkata, July 2: The ongoing political turmoil within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has now reached the Election Commission’s doorstep. The rebel faction of the party is preparing to officially present its claim for the party’s election symbol and funds.
On Thursday, ten rebel legislators, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, will meet with the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at its headquarters in New Delhi.
The rebel group had previously requested an appointment with the Election Commission. Ritabrata Banerjee confirmed that the commission has accepted their request and scheduled a hearing for Thursday. During this meeting, the rebel faction will present legal and political arguments in their favor. All legislators departed from Kolkata to New Delhi on Wednesday evening in preparation for this meeting.
On June 22, the TMC’s rebel legislators formed a new National Working Committee, which includes a total of 30 members, along with a separate sub-committee of 10 members.
A significant decision made by the new committee was the removal of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the position of national president. Senior TMC legislator Arup Roy has been appointed as the new national president. This change has intensified the internal conflict within the party.
The rebel faction has already submitted all proposals, legal documents, and necessary paperwork to the Election Commission through a team of lawyers. In Thursday’s meeting, they will attempt to strengthen their claim to the party’s name and election symbol based on these documents.
Currently, the TMC has a total of 80 legislators in the West Bengal Assembly. The rebel faction claims that 60 of these legislators are aligned with them, while 20 remain loyal to Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
The core issue of the dispute revolves around the rights to the party’s name and election symbol. According to the 1968 Election Symbol (Reservation and Allotment) Order, a regional party must secure at least 6% of the total valid votes in the state and have a minimum of two legislators to maintain its election symbol.
The rebel faction asserts that they have the support of over 60 legislators. They argue that if each legislator receives an average of just 80,000 votes, their total would amount to approximately 4.8 million votes, significantly exceeding the Election Commission’s required 6% threshold.
Conversely, the rebel faction claims that the original but minority group led by Mamata Banerjee has only 20 legislators, which means their vote count does not reach 3.78 million. Based on this, the rebel faction believes their claim to the party’s name and election symbol is much stronger in terms of both numbers and votes.
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