NEW DELHI: Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, the Mamata Banerjee-led faction’s candidate for the Rejinagar Assembly bypoll, has decided to withdraw his candidature, dealing another setback to the faction a day after its Nandigram nominee also pulled out.Chowdhury said he was withdrawing because the faction’s newly allotted election symbol would be difficult to make familiar to voters in the short time available before the October 6 bypoll.The decision means Mamata’s faction has now lost its candidates in both Nandigram and Rejinagar, two of the seats going to the polls in West Bengal on October 6.
Second candidate pulls out
Chowdhury’s announcement came a day after Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the faction’s candidate in Nandigram, withdrew her nomination. She had met West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari with her husband on Thursday, but did not publicly explain her decision to quit.After Dey’s withdrawal, Mamata’s faction backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in Nandigram. Pradhan was subsequently arrested by police in connection with pending cases dating back to 2007.The developments triggered allegations from opposition parties that state agencies were being used to influence the bypolls. Those allegations have not been independently established.
TMC split complicates bypolls
The withdrawals follow the Election Commission’s interim decision to stop both rival TMC factions from using the party’s original name and its ‘flowers and grass’ symbol while it considers their competing claims.The EC allotted Mamata’s faction the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘football player’ symbol. The rival faction led by Arup Roy was given the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘envelope’ symbol.The poll panel said the temporary arrangement was necessary to ensure candidates from both factions could contest the bypolls. It said otherwise returning officers could have been required to reject their nomination papers because of the dispute over the party’s identity and frozen symbol.
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Mamata challenges EC decision
Mamata has moved the Supreme Court against the EC’s decision to prevent her faction from using the original TMC name and its traditional symbol.The EC has said both factions will be treated as recognised political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura for the time being. The new names and symbols will remain in place while the larger dispute over control of the party is decided.The October 6 bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar will therefore take place against the backdrop of the split, with Mamata’s faction now having lost its original candidates in both constituencies.
