Election Commission freezes Trinamool name and flowers-and-grass symbol

The Election Commission of India on Thursday night barred both factions of the All India Trinamool Congress from using the party's name and its reserved Flowers and Grass symbol. The interim order covers the 6 October Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar and stays in force until the Commission decides, under paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which group, if either, is the party.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar sat with Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and S.S. Sandhu. They heard both sides the same day. The 14-page order records two rival groups, one led by Mamata Banerjee and one by Arup Roy, each claiming to be the All India Trinamool Congress. Some reports also name Ritabrata Banerjee as the public face of the rebel side. The Commission said there was not enough time before polling to finish a full Para 15 inquiry, so it put both groups "on an even keel."

Neither side may use the registered name. Both must send, by 11 a.m. on 18 September, three names in order of preference. A name may keep a link to the parent party. They must also list three symbols from the Commission's free-symbol schedule. The panel will allot one name and one symbol to each group for the current bypolls. Those identities will last until the final ruling.

The vacancies exist because Humayun Kabir and Suvendu Adhikari resigned. Nandigram is the constituency most closely tied to Mamata Banerjee's 2021 campaign against Adhikari. Rejinagar sits in Murshidabad. Trinamool is a recognised state party in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. The freeze applies to the name and symbol wherever the Commission treats the dispute as live. In Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha seat the Mamata faction has already fielded a candidate under the old identity. That candidate now needs a new label.

Paragraph 15 is the clause used when a recognised party splits. The Commission may decide that one faction is the party, or that neither is. The classic Indian cases are the Congress splits and the 1990s fights over the Janata family of parties. In practice the first mover is often the group that holds the organisation's offices and legislative strength. Mamata Banerjee's lawyers told the panel she still is that group. Kalyan Banerjee, a Trinamool Lok Sabha member, said after the hearing that her side had filed the papers to prove it. Ritabrata Banerjee declined to talk about the session.

The rebellion against Mamata Banerjee's leadership began in June. Since then the party that has governed West Bengal since 2011 has had two public command structures. A frozen symbol in a two-seat bypoll does not decide the 2026-27 cycle on its own. It does force both camps to print new material, re-brief booth workers, and explain to voters why the grass-and-flowers mark is missing from the machine.

The deadline on Friday morning is tight by design. If one faction misses it, the Commission can still allot a name and a free symbol from the residual list. If both file, the fight moves to which three words sit above the candidate's photograph. The longer Para 15 case will turn on membership lists, legislative party numbers, and who controls the party's registered office. Until that order comes, West Bengal will have two Trinamools and no Flowers and Grass.