EC allots 'Football Player' symbol to Mamata Banerjee faction, 'Envelope' to rival TMC group
New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) The Election Commission of India on Friday allotted the name "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress" and the "Football Player" election symbol to the faction led by Mamata Banerjee, while assigning "Democratic Trinamool Congress" and the "Envelope" symbol to the rival group headed by Arup Roy, paving the way for candidates of both factions to contest the ongoing by-elections after the Commission froze the original "All India Trinamool Congress" name and its reserved "Flowers & Grass" symbol.
The Commission's September 18 order was issued to safeguard the nominations of candidates fielded by the two rival factions after both sides had already submitted nomination papers claiming to represent the All India Trinamool Congress in the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly constituencies in West Bengal and the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. The two groups have been recognised as political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. The fresh arrangement follows the Commission's September 17 order barring both factions from using the name
"All India Trinamool Congress" and the "Flowers & Grass" symbol pending adjudication of the dispute between them under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968. The immediate problem arose because rival candidates had already filed nominations using authorisations from the two factions before the Commission froze the original party identity and symbol.
In Rejinagar, Safiuzzaman Saikh filed his nomination as an AITC candidate with a Form-B authorised by Arup Roy, while Rabiul Alam Chowdhury filed another nomination claiming the same party's backing with a Form-B authorised by Mamata Banerjee. In Nandigram, Ehteshmul Haque was backed by Roy, while Sanchita Pradhan (Dey) was backed by Banerjee. In Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, Abdul Salam filed his nomination with a Form-B authorised by Banerjee. The Returning Officers had deferred scrutiny of the nominations to September 18.
The Commission noted that, without its intervention, the Returning Officers could have been faced with two candidates claiming to have been nominated by the same political party whose name and symbol had already been frozen. Such a situation could have resulted in both nominations facing rejection and potentially deprived electors of a genuine electoral contest. Invoking its "residuary and inherent powers" under Article 324 of the Constitution and the Election Symbols Order, the Commission said the intervention was intended "to protect the democratic rights of the electors, preserve the integrity of the electoral process, and ensure that no candidate or faction is unfairly prejudiced pending a final determination of the dispute."
Accordingly, Chowdhury's nomination in Rejinagar will be treated as having been filed by the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress with the "Football Player" symbol, while Saikh's nomination will be treated as having been filed by the Democratic Trinamool Congress with the "Envelope" symbol. The same arrangement will apply in Nandigram, where Pradhan's nomination will be treated as that of a Mamata All India Trinamool Congress candidate with the "Football Player" symbol, while Haque's nomination will be treated as that of a Democratic Trinamool Congress candidate with the "Envelope" symbol. In Nagaon, Salam's nomination will likewise be treated as having been filed by the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress with the "Football Player" symbol.
The Commission has made it clear that its September 18 order does not amount to a final determination on the validity of the nomination papers or the competing claims over the party's identity and organisational control. The Returning Officers have been directed to take the order into account during scrutiny and allotment of symbols while independently examining the nominations under Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The order thus creates an interim electoral framework for the two rival factions while keeping the larger organisational dispute open for final adjudication. Neither group can presently use the established "All India Trinamool Congress" name or the traditional "Flowers & Grass" symbol, but candidates backed by the rival factions will be able to remain in the electoral contest under the newly allotted identities and symbols pending the Commission's final decision.
