The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently list former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s challenge to the Election Commission of India’s decision to freeze the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) name and its “Flowers and Grass” election symbol.
Chief Justice Assures Fair Hearing for Both Sides
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) confirmed that both parties involved in the ongoing matter will have the chance to present their arguments during the next hearing. “Whenever the matter is listed, please argue these points at the time. Both sides will have something to say,” the CJI stated, emphasizing the importance of allowing each side to express their views.
The arrangements apply to the upcoming bypolls, including those in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal. Banerjee’s petition has challenged the interim arrangement and the freezing of the original party name and symbol. The plea names the Election Commission and the rival faction as respondents. Twenty rebel TMC parliamentarians subsequently merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India and threw their support behind the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
Banerjee moved the Supreme Court on September 18, hours after the Election Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the two rival factions following its September 17 interim order freezing the original party identity for the upcoming by-elections. The Election Commission’s September 17 order came after rival groups staked claim to the party name, symbol and organisational control. The commission said there were two rival groups, one led by Banerjee and the other by the opposing faction, and that the dispute required a substantive determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. On June 3, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Nath Bose recognised 58 rebel TMC legislators as the principal opposition party, naming Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha as LoP and deputy LoP respectively. The move came a month after the BJP swept to power in the state for the first time, winning 207 of 294 seats, while the TMC’s tally fell to 80.
The poll panel has named Banerjee’s faction “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” and allotted it the “Football Player” symbol. The rival faction has been recognised as “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and allotted the “Envelope” symbol.
When Sibal sought an early hearing, the CJI said: “We will try and list it in this week itself.”
