ECI to meet Trinamool factions today; likely to decide who gets name, symbol

The Election Commission is set to hear rival Trinamool Congress factions separately in New Delhi on Thursday, amid speculation it may decide on the party’s name and symbol. Both sides have been asked to submit additional documents before final arguments 

Kolkata: As the Election Commission of India meets separately with delegations from the two factions of the Trinamool Congress in New Delhi in the second half on Thursday, speculation is rife that the ECI may as well decide on who gets the party symbol and name.

The ECI will meet the two factions separately within an hour’s gap. While the time allotted to the party’s “rebel but majority” faction led by expelled party legislator Ritabrata Banerjee is 3 p.m., the same for the “original but minority” faction led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, is 4 p.m.

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The commission had asked both factions to bring documents during the hearing, and their final arguments will be based on those documents.

It is learnt that the five members of the rebel faction allotted time at 3 p.m. will be represented by Ritabrata Banerjee, Arup Roy, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Akhruzzaman and lawyer Aman Jha.

The Mamata Banerjee-led faction will be led by Kalyan Banerjee, who is both a party Lok Sabha member and an advocate. However, the names of the remaining four delegation members are not yet known.

Last time, the Commission heard arguments from both the factions on September 12. But the ECI did not take any decision then. Instead, the Commission asked for some additional documents from both factions. Accordingly, the delegations of the factions have been called for the final round of hearing later on Thursday.

Political observers feel that even if the ECI takes a final decision on the fate of party name and symbol on Thursday itself, the matter will not end there.

“Any faction that would be aggrieved by the decision will surely move the Supreme Court against the decision. Right now, as I can see, there are four possibilities. The first two possibilities are that the ECI allots the party name and symbol to any of the two factions, which will automatically lead to a long legal battle.

The second possibility is that the EC maintains the status quo in the matter for the time being and leaves the decision for later. The fourth possibility is that the Commission freezes the name and symbol of the party. In case of the fourth possibility, both the factions will have to opt for alternative names and alternative symbols,” said a city-based political observer.