The Election Commission of India has finalised new political identities for the two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress ahead of the upcoming Assembly by-elections.
The faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, has been allotted the name Democratic Trinamool Congress. The faction will contest the upcoming bypolls using the Envelope as its election symbol.
On the other side, the faction led by Mamata Banerjee, former Chief Minister of West Bengal, has been assigned the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress. Its election symbol will be the Football Player.
The development follows the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the use of the All India Trinamool Congress name and the party’s traditional Flowers and Grass symbol by the rival factions while the dispute over the party’s identity and control remains under consideration.
Both factions had been asked to submit alternative names and free symbols to the Commission ahead of the bypolls. The final names and symbols have now been allocated for the upcoming electoral contest.
The new arrangements will apply to the forthcoming Assembly by-elections, including the contests in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal.
For now, the two camps will enter the bypolls under separate names and symbols, while the broader dispute over the original party name and traditional symbol remains a separate matter before the Election Commission.
