TMC's Leadership Battle Heats Up Ahead of Crucial By-Elections in West Bengal
Election Commission Engages with TMC Factions
New Delhi: On Saturday, the Election Commission convened discussions with representatives from both factions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Ritabrata Banerjee, amid ongoing disputes regarding the party's authorized signatories and internal elections.
These meetings were held in anticipation of the upcoming bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar, set for October 6.
The TMC, under Mamata Banerjee's leadership, asserted that there is no contention regarding its organizational framework and challenged the legitimacy of the opposing faction's claims, as stated in a post-meeting release.
A five-member team, including Derek O'Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale, and lawyer Abhinav Singh, represented the Mamata-led faction during the discussions with the Election Commission.
The delegation highlighted that the MLAs supporting the rival faction had contested elections on TMC tickets just five months prior, with Mamata Banerjee endorsing the party symbol under which they campaigned, according to their statement.
Additionally, they noted that these MLAs had each received ₹25 lakh from the TMC to support their electoral campaigns.
The representatives informed the commission that their organizational elections have been consistently conducted every five years to elect the chairperson and the national working committee, with the last elections held in 2022.
The statement characterized the conflict as one between the 'Mamata Banerjee-led party' and 'a group of traitors', referring to the opposing faction.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led group also presented their case to the commission, providing documents and addressing questions posed by the panel.
Following their presentation, the commission requested additional documentation from this group by the end of the day.
"We have fulfilled our responsibilities and will submit further documents today. Now we await a ruling from the highest authority," Ritabrata Banerjee remarked.
He emphasized that his group urged the Election Commission to resolve the matter before September 16, the deadline for filing nominations for the West Bengal bypolls.
Ritabrata Banerjee expressed confidence that his faction would secure the TMC symbol.
The impending bypolls have intensified the urgency surrounding the organizational dispute, as candidates must meet nomination deadlines.
After the discussions, Kalyan Banerjee from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC noted that the meeting lasted over two hours, during which the delegation addressed the commission's inquiries.
"The Election Commission heard our case for nearly two-and-a-half hours. We provided our submissions and responded to various questions," he stated.
He mentioned that the commission inquired about the possibility of issuing an interim order, to which they expressed opposition.
"Concerns were raised regarding whether an interim order could be issued, and we opposed that..." he added.
Kalyan Banerjee clarified that the election symbol was not a topic of discussion during the meeting.
When asked if the symbol's allocation was discussed due to the upcoming bypolls, he replied, "No, that was not addressed."
Regarding the TMC's participation in the Rejinagar and Nandigram bypolls, he affirmed, "We will contest."
He stated that the party intends to continue using its symbol unless the Election Commission rules otherwise.
When questioned about the likelihood of a decision before September 16, Kalyan Banerjee expressed uncertainty, saying, "I am not optimistic. I prefer not to speculate at this stage."
The Election Commission will now review the materials submitted by both factions concerning the party's organizational structure and authorized signatories.