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The Commission decides such cases on documented evidence of organisational control, membership records and the support of elected MPs and MLAs.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday held separate hearings with the two warring factions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) – one led by Mamata Banerjee, the other by Ritabrata Banerjee – as the battle over the party’s name, twinflower symbol and organisational funds intensified just weeks before by-elections to the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly seats. Commission sources indicated, with the nomination deadline of September 16 leaving little room for a final adjudication, the poll panel may choose to freeze the symbol for the time being and direct both camps to contest the bypolls under separate identities and symbols. The Ritabrata faction’s five-member delegation – chairperson Arup Roy, chief whip Akhruzzaman, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Riju Dutta – appeared before the Commission at 11 am for an hour and twenty minutes. The Mamata camp’s team, comprising MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale along with advocate Abhinav Singh, was heard from noon for close to two hours. “I cannot disclose what happened behind the scenes. It was very fruitful. They had many queries, we answered them and submitted some documents.

We are hopeful because we are the TMC,” Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, said after the hearing. He described his faction as a “democratic party” that had followed proper documentation procedure, and said the Commission had asked for additional papers to be submitted the same day. Asked whether his side had received any assurance of a decision before the nomination deadline, Banerjee said his faction had specifically requested the EC to rule on the matter before September 16, adding that it remained confident of securing the TMC symbol. Kalyan Banerjee, speaking for the Mamata camp, was equally guarded but firm. “We have made our submissions. Some queries were there, we have answered as much as possible. Only they can say whether they are satisfied or not. We objected to any interim order. Whatever order is passed, we will see and then take the further course of action,” he said. He maintained that his faction would contest the bypolls on the TMC symbol “till the time the Election Commission says that Mamata Banerjee is not the chairperson.” The dispute has been before the ECI since July 2, when the Ritabrata faction first staked its claim to be the “real” TMC. While the Mamata camp responded within the original July 6 deadline, the rebel group sought two extensions – July 10 and July 25 – before filing its case, prompting Mamata Banerjee to write to the Commission urging an early ruling and alleging the delay was intended to manufacture evidence.

Disputes of this kind are governed by Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, a provision the Supreme Court upheld in its 1972 judgment in Sadiq Ali v Election Commission of India. The Commission does not decide such cases on claims to ideology or political legacy but on documented evidence of organisational control – membership records, delegate lists, resolutions and the support of elected MPs and MLAs. Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said that in symbol disputes, rival factions must demonstrate their numbers to establish which one represents the party. Where a final decision cannot be reached before an election, the Commission has, in the past, frozen the symbol and permitted both factions to contest under separate names and symbols on an interim basis – precisely the course sources now suggest is being weighed in this case. Adding a political edge to the legal tussle, Ritabrata Banerjee has offered not to field a candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram should she choose to contest the seat herself. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated Nandigram after retaining both it and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly election; he had earlier defeated Banerjee there in 2021. The offer leaves her in a bind – contesting risks a third defeat on Adhikari’s home turf, while staying away could be portrayed as an unwillingness to challenge him directly.