New Delhi: The Supreme Court has intervened decisively in the ongoing political feud surrounding the name and election symbol of the All India Trinamool Congress, setting a strict four-month deadline for the Election Commission to settle the matter. Under the directives issued by the apex court, both rival factions have been granted a period of four weeks to submit their respective affidavits and counter-affidavits. Once this initial pleading stage concludes, the poll panel will have a dedicated window of three months to deliberate and deliver its final verdict. This structured timeline ensures that the entire dispute resolution process will reach its logical conclusion within a maximum period of four months.
Four-Week Window Set For Legal Pleadings
Following this judicial directive, all legal arguments and formal responses from both competing camps must be wrapped up within four weeks. The completion of these document filings will pave the way for the Election Commission to dedicate the subsequent three months entirely to evaluating the merits and finalizing its order. This controversy essentially centers around the intense power struggle between the faction led by Mamata Banerjee and the group led by Ritabrata Banerjee, both claiming legitimate ownership over the AITC name and its recognized grass and flowers symbol. In response to this deadlock, the election panel had issued an interim order on September 17, explicitly restraining both warring factions from utilizing the disputed name and symbol for ongoing political activities.
Different Symbols Allocated For Upcoming By-Elections
As a consequence of the ongoing administrative freeze, the Election Commission allotted separate temporary symbols to both factions for the upcoming legislative assembly by-elections in West Bengal scheduled for October 6. The Mamata Banerjee-led camp was assigned the football player symbol, while the faction headed by Arup Roy received the envelope symbol. These interim allocations were finalized after the commission heard submissions from both sides. Official records indicate that the Mamata-led faction was provisionally designated as the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, whereas the rival group led by Arup Roy was categorized as the Democratic Trinamool Congress, keeping both entities distinct until a permanent resolution is reached.
Challenge Brought Before The Apex Bench
The election authority had previously emphasized that a comprehensive examination under the provisions of the Election Symbols Reservation and Allotment Order of 1968 was necessary to settle the core dispute permanently. Mamata Banerjee chose to challenge the poll panel's interim decision by filing a petition in the Supreme Court. The hearings are currently being conducted by a bench presided over by Chief Justice Surya Kant, alongside Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana. Meanwhile, the administrative machinery remains focused on the upcoming by-elections in the Nandigram seat located in East Medinipur district and the Raninagar seat in Murshidabad district, which are set for October 6 with vote counting scheduled for October 9.
