TMC Rebels to Present Claim for Party Symbol at Election Commission

Kolkata, July 2: The political turmoil within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has escalated to the Election Commission‘s doorstep. The rebel faction of the party is now set to officially present its claim for the party’s election symbol and funds.

On Thursday, ten rebel MLAs, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, will meet with the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi. The rebel group had previously requested a meeting with the commission, which has now been scheduled for Thursday. During this meeting, they will present legal and political arguments in their favor. All MLAs departed for New Delhi from Kolkata on Wednesday evening.

The TMC rebels had formed a new National Working Committee on June 22, comprising 30 members, along with a separate sub-committee of 10 members. A significant decision made was the removal of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the position of national president, with senior TMC MLA Arup Roy taking her place. This development has intensified the internal conflict within the party.

A team of lawyers representing the rebel faction has already submitted all proposals, legal documents, and necessary paperwork to the Election Commission. In the upcoming meeting, they aim to strengthen their claim over the party’s name and election symbol based on these documents.

Currently, the TMC has a total of 80 MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly. The rebel faction asserts that 60 of these MLAs are aligned with them, while 20 remain loyal to Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.

The crux of the dispute revolves around the rights to the party’s name and election symbol. According to the 1968 Election Symbols (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 MLAs to retain its election symbol.

The rebel faction claims to have over 60 MLAs on their side. They argue that if each MLA is considered to have received an average of 80,000 votes, their total would amount to approximately 4.8 million votes, significantly exceeding the Election Commission’s 6% threshold.

Conversely, the original faction led by Mamata Banerjee claims to have only 20 MLAs, which they argue does not reach the 3.78 million vote mark. Based on this, the rebel faction contends that they have a stronger claim to the party’s name and election symbol in terms of both numbers and votes.