‘Late night birthday gift to Modi ji’: Congress slams EC over TMC symbol freeze | India News
NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday criticised the Election Commission’s interim decision to bar both rival Trinamool Congress (TMC) factions from using the party’s name and reserved election symbol in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly bypolls, with party general secretary KC Venugopal calling it “CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s late night birthday gift to Modi ji”.In a post on X, Venugopal alleged that the decision amounted to an attempt to undermine the faction led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.“Freezing the AITC name and symbol – after a blatantly unconstitutional hijack by the BJP – is CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s late night birthday gift to Modi ji.Those who fought against the BJP, under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, are now being given the red carpet to rebel against her and commit the unconstitutional sin of defection with the ECI’s help.The ECI has one again proven that it is nothing more than a puppet in the hands of the BJP – a tool to destroy democracy bit by bit.They did it in the case of Shiv Sena, NCP, and now AITC – whoever opposes the BJP is dealt a fatal blow and their entire electoral existence is snatched away from them.We condemn this move, and demand that the ECI immediately restore the two leaves symbol to Mamata Banerjee ji.”The Congress leader’s remarks came shortly after the Election Commission barred both rival TMC factions from using the party name and reserved election symbol for the October 6 West Bengal Assembly bypolls.The bypolls are scheduled in Nandigram and Rejinagar, where factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee had fielded candidates while staking claim to the TMC identity and its twin-flowers-on-grass symbol.The dispute reached the Election Commission in July after the rival factions claimed control of the party. The poll panel subsequently sought submissions on organisational control, authorised signatories, party assets, the party name and the election symbol.The EC held separate meetings with representatives of both factions on September 12. The Mamata faction was represented by Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale and advocate Abhinav Singh, while the Ritabrata faction was represented by Ritabrata Banerjee, Akhruzzaman, Arup Roy, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Riju Datt.
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The Mamata faction argued that Banerjee remained the party chairperson and that its national working committee was within its five-year term. The rival faction contended that the party constitution provided for a three-year term, which it said had ended in February 2025.The EC sought final submissions from both factions by 3 pm on September 16, the nomination deadline for the bypolls, and subsequently held another hearing on Thursday.The interim order comes ahead of the October 6 bypolls and while the broader dispute over control of the party remains unresolved.
