New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress, led by its founder and chairperson Mamata Banerjee, submitted its response to the Election Commission’s interim order that temporarily removed the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) name and its “flowers and grass” symbol from the ballot for the October 6 bypolls in West Bengal.
The party emailed its choices of new names and symbols for the upcoming elections to the poll panel at 11:36 pm on Thursday and submitted them “under strongest protest”, according to sources.
In its interim order issued on Thursday night, the Election Commission directed the two sides in the dispute over the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) not to use the party name and its “flowers and grass” symbol for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls, and asked them to submit their preferred names and symbols by Friday morning.
The poll panel acted under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, following a formal leadership dispute and rival claims between the Mamata Banerjee camp and the rebel faction led by Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee.
Both competing factions were instructed to submit three preferences for temporary group names (which could include a linkage to the parent party) and three choices from the EC’s list of free symbols by 11:00 AM on Friday, September 18, 2026.
Rejecting the interim directives as “contrary to law” and unacceptable, the Mamata Banerjee faction complied with the morning deadline while lodging a severe formal protest against the poll body’s decision.
The Election Commission will review the submitted options to allot temporary identities for the upcoming bypolls while the substantive title dispute over the real AITC continues.
