Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said the Election Commission had a constitutional responsibility to safeguard the people’s verdict but alleged that it was instead aiding political efforts to unsettle that mandate. His criticism followed the Commission’s Thursday night order temporarily freezing the All India Trinamool Congress name and reserved symbol while it decides which faction is entitled to them.
“First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress,” Gandhi wrote on X, alleging a recurring pattern in which the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission acted together to split opposition parties before their symbols were taken away. He described the dispute as extending beyond Mamata Banerjee and affecting every party and voter seeking free and fair elections.
Gandhi also used the phrases “vote theft”, “government theft” and “party theft” to frame his criticism, saying the sequence reflected what he called a decline in democratic safeguards. He said the controversy was not only Mamata Banerjee’s fight but one concerning political parties and voters who wanted free and fair elections.
The three-member Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, issued the interim direction after hearing submissions from the competing camps on Thursday. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were also part of the bench that considered the dispute before issuing its order under election law.
The Election Commission has not accepted Gandhi’s allegation of collusion. Its interim order said competing claims from two Trinamool groups required substantive determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols Order, 1968. The Commission said the temporary arrangement was intended to place the rival groups on an “even keel” and protect their rights and interests until a final decision is reached.
The dispute involves the faction led by Mamata Banerjee and a rival group associated with Ritabrata Banerjee. Both sides claim to represent the party and sought the right to use its established name and symbol in the by-elections. The Commission said there was insufficient time to complete the full adjudication before polling, prompting the interim restriction.
The order required both factions to submit three preferred interim names and three available election symbols by 11 am on Friday. Both camps complied with the deadline, although the Banerjee-led group lodged its choices under protest and continued to challenge the basis of the freeze.
Later on Friday, the Election Commission allotted the Mamata Banerjee-led faction the interim name “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and the “Football Player” symbol. The rival faction was allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and the “Envelope” symbol for the affected polls, pending final resolution of the ownership dispute.
The bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar are scheduled for October 6. The symbol dispute has therefore moved directly into the campaign, forcing both camps to contest without the long-established Trinamool identity that voters have associated with the party.
Gandhi linked the Commission’s move to earlier disputes involving the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, but those cases arose from separate organisational splits and were decided through their own proceedings. His comparison was political criticism rather than a finding by any court or constitutional authority.
Congress had also attacked the Commission’s decision on Thursday night, alleging that the freeze weakened the party led by Mamata Banerjee. The Election Commission, however, maintained that neither faction could be allowed exclusive use of the disputed identity while both were asserting control and the formal adjudication remained unfinished.
The Mamata Banerjee camp argued that the party’s founder and longstanding leadership should retain the established identity, while the rival group challenged that claim and sought recognition on the basis of its support within the organisation and legislature. The competing submissions are now before the Commission for final determination.
