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The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress moved the Supreme Court on Friday, September 18, challenging the Election Commission of India’s decision to freeze the party’s name and election symbol amid an ongoing dispute between the faction and the rebel group led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
The petition was filed hours after the Election Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions. The Mamata-led faction was allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘football player’ symbol, while the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction was allotted the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and an ‘envelope’ symbol.
The Election Commission had, on Thursday, September 17, issued an interim order preventing both factions from using the name ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ and the party’s ‘twin flowers and grass’ symbol for the upcoming Assembly byelections in Nandigram and Rejinagar.
The decision was taken under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which empowers the poll panel to decide disputes between rival groups claiming to be the recognised political party.
The Election Commission said the time available was insufficient to determine which of the two groups was the “real” party and therefore froze the original name and symbol pending a final decision.
The Mamata-led faction has challenged the decision before the Supreme Court, arguing that the Election Commission did not comprehensively examine the party’s organisational structure before arriving at its interim decision.
The petition also alleged that the poll panel relied on statements of rebel legislators who are facing disqualification proceedings under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with disqualification on grounds of defection.
A separate petition has also been filed by the Mamata faction concerning the delay in deciding disqualification proceedings against 10 legislators belonging to the rebel faction before the West Bengal Assembly Speaker.
Mamata’s faction has questioned the validity of a June 22 meeting at which the rebel group elected Arup Roy as chairperson of its National Working Committee.
The rebel faction told the Election Commission that the tenure of the earlier National Working Committee had expired in February 2025. The Mamata faction, however, has maintained that the committee’s tenure has been five years from 2006 and that the next organisational elections were due in 2027.
The dispute over the party’s name and symbol follows the loss of electoral support suffered by the Mamata-led faction in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election. Around 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs shifted towards Ritabrata Banerjee, while 20 of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs also left the Mamata faction.
The Election Commission’s handling of the dispute has drawn comparisons with earlier party splits, including the 1969 Congress split involving Indira Gandhi.
The Election Commission in that dispute examined three factors — the party’s aims and objects, its constitution, and majority support. The poll panel eventually relied on the numerical strength of Indira Gandhi’s faction among MPs and legislators to recognise it as the real Congress.
The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the Election Commission’s decision and its power to decide such disputes under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order.
The Election Commission also applied the three tests in the 2024 Nationalist Congress Party dispute, but ultimately relied on the strength of the legislative wing after finding the party’s organisational bodies were “shrouded with doubt”.
In its NCP order, the commission observed that in several symbol disputes, political parties were either not holding regular organisational elections or were not conducting them according to their constitutions. It said that in such circumstances, a party could become “a private fiefdom of a single person or group of select individuals”.
The commission said this could leave it “forced to ignore the numerical strength of opposing factions in the Organisational Wing despite being conscious of its importance” and, in the NCP dispute, it therefore decided the matter “on the basis of test of majority in the legislative wing”.
The Mamata faction has meanwhile accused the Election Commission of acting unfairly.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, September 18, Mamata described the decision as a “black day in our democratic history” and said she would challenge it legally.
“Absolutely wrong, dirty game... We feel today is a black day in our democratic history,” Mamata said. “We'll fight it out, we'll fight the battle, and we'll bounce back,” she said.
Mamata also said the decision was “very unfortunate, unconstitutional, illegal, undemocratic, and a totally politically biased vendetta to satisfy the ego of a political party”.
She alleged that attempts had been made to pressure her into supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party and accused the BJP and the Election Commission of working together against her faction.
The Congress has backed Mamata’s legal challenge. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the issue concerned every political party and voter who wanted “free and impartial elections”. “This is the battle for every political party, every voter who want a free and impartial elections,” Rahul said.
Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi also criticised the Election Commission.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena also expressed support for Mamata’s faction. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said the party belonged to Mamata because she had founded it and decided its objectives. “The poll body should not have frozen the symbol. The rebels should take some other symbol and contest the polls,” Raut said.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) also expressed support for Mamata, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declined to comment, describing the matter as an internal party dispute.
Ritabrata Banerjee’s faction, meanwhile, has defended the Election Commission’s decision, with Ritabrata arguing that “a political party isn't a private company”.
The dispute has an immediate electoral consequence, with the new names and symbols being allotted for the October 6 bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar.
Mamata has also announced unconditional support for the Congress candidate in the Nandigram bypoll after her faction withdrew its nominee. Her faction has now approached the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s interim decision. The matter is expected to come up for hearing next week.
The Supreme Court challenge seeks to overturn the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the original Trinamool Congress name and symbol while the rival claims are being adjudicated.
