Expelled Trinamool MLA Ritabrata Banerjee addresses the media in Kolkata. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Election Commission will on Thursday (July 2, 2026) meet rebel Trinamool Congress MLAs, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, who have staked claim to be the “real” party in the West Bengal Assembly.
A full Bench of the Commission will meet the 10-member delegation at 12 noon, a senior Election Commission official said.
“We have an appointment with the full bench of the Election Commission at Nirvachan Sadan tomorrow. They have allowed a ten-member delegation, that is why ten of us are going to Delhi. We have an appointment with ECI at 12.noon tomorrow,” Mr. Banerjee told media persons on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) before leaving for Delhi.
The Election Commission recognises political parties and allots symbols under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, it can decide disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognised political party staking claim to its name and symbol.
On June 3, 58 Trinamool Congress MLAs submitted a letter to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker nominating Uluberia Purba MLA Mr. Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition. This was against the party’s earlier decision to nominate 10-time MLA and veteran leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay to the post on May 20.
On June 22, the “rebel” group removed Mamata Banerjee, who founded the party in 1998, as the Trinamool chairperson and appointed its own national working committee. The Ritabrata camp has appointed Arup Biswas as the party chairperson and Aroop Biswas, Firhad Hakim, Rathin Ghosh, and Sabina Yasmin as general secretaries. The following day, it moved the Election Commission to stake claim to the party name and symbol.
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction, following the national working committee meeting of the party on June 20, informed the Election Commission of the changes made in the organisation, including the appointment of two joint secretaries, Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien.
In the recent session of the State Assembly, separate seating arrangements have been made for MLAs belonging to Mamata Banerjee camp and those supporting Ritabrata Banerjee. Both the camps have also claimed ownership of three bank accounts of the party which have funds amounting to ₹440 crore. The bank authorities have frozen the three accounts.
The Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha also saw a split, with 20 of its 28 MPs merging with the little-known Nationalist Citizen Party of India.
While deciding which faction gets the symbol and is recognised as the official party, the Election Commission has to adopt a two-pronged approach. It has to ascertain whether any of the rival factions enjoys a two-thirds majority in both the organisational and legislative wings of the party.
For the organisational wing, the Commission examines the party’s constitution and its list of office-bearers submitted when the party was united. It identifies the apex committee or committees in the organisation and determines how many office-bearers, members or delegates support the rival claimants. For the legislative wing, the Commission goes by the number of MPs and MLAs in the rival camps. It may consider affidavits filed by these members to ascertain where they stand.
While deciding the dispute in favour of one faction by holding that it commands sufficient support in its organisational and legislative wings to be entitled to the name and symbol of the recognised party, the Commission may permit the other group to register itself as a separate political party.
When it is not possible to determine with certainty which group commands a majority, the Election Commission may freeze the party’s symbol and allow the groups to register themselves under new names or add prefixes or suffixes to the party’s existing names.
Published – July 01, 2026 10:34 pm IST