Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee and nine other MLAs will meet the full bench of the Election Commission in New Delhi’s Nirvachan Sadan on Thursday to stake claim on the Trinamool Congress’s symbol and coffers.
The MLAs – who claim to represent the “ashol” or real Trinamool – will meet chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and other members of the poll panel around noon on Thursday.
“We had made a submission before the Election Commission and were trying to meet the chief election commissioner to stake our claim. The CEC has agreed to hear us before a full bench of the Election Commission,” Ritabrata Banerjee told mediapersons before leaving for Delhi.
“When we sit before the bench on Thursday we will present our case.”
The 10-member team also includes Snehasis Chakraborty, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee government.
Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the Election Commission to decide on the symbol of a party in case of splinter groups or rival sections of a recognised party.
“When the Commission is satisfied on information in its possession that there are rival sections or groups of a recognised political party each of whom claims to be the party, the Commission may, after taking into account all the available facts and circumstances of the case and hearing such representatives of the sections or groups and other persons as desire to be heard, decide that one such rival section or group or none of such rival sections or groups is that recognised political party and the decision of the Commission shall be binding on all such rival sections of groups,” the paragraph says.
In the recent past, the EC has recognised the breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena under Eknath Shinde as the official party. The NCP headed by the late Ajit Pawar was also recognised as the real NCP.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led NCP were awarded new symbols.
In the case of the Trinamool, also at stake are the party’s assets, estimated to be around Rs. 1,600 crore, though some sources in the rival faction have indicated it could be four times higher.
On June 22, the Ritabrata-led faction that included MLAs, former MLAs, councillors and others held a convention where former Mamata-loyalist and Howrah Madhya MLA Arup Roy was announced as chairperson, replacing Mamata who held the post since the party was formed in 1998.
“We are keeping a watch on the development. We will also present our case before the Election Commission. Legal experts are being consulted,” said a Mamata-loyalist MLA.
