NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Election Commission's interim decision barring rival Trinamool Congress (TMC) factions from using the party's name and its reserved ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol in the upcoming West Bengal bypolls.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission and the BJP were working together to split political parties and subsequently deprive them of their established election symbols. He referred to earlier disputes involving the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party before turning to the ongoing TMC dispute.
“Vote chori. Government chori. Now party chori,” Gandhi said, describing these developments as what he called signs of democratic decline. He also said the Election Commission's constitutional responsibility was to protect the electoral mandate.
The Election Commission issued its interim order on September 17 amid an internal dispute between two rival TMC factions. The poll panel said both groups were claiming to represent the All India Trinamool Congress and that the dispute required a substantive determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
As an interim measure, the Commission barred both factions from using the All India Trinamool Congress name and the party's reserved ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol for the upcoming bypolls.
The two factions have been asked to submit three preferred party names and three free-symbol choices to the Election Commission. Separate names and symbols will be allotted to the groups for the bypolls, with the interim arrangement continuing until the larger dispute is decided.
The Congress has also criticised the Election Commission's decision, while the poll panel has said the interim arrangement is intended to place both rival groups on an equal footing and protect their rights and interests pending a final determination.
Gandhi said the issue was not limited to Mamata Banerjee and argued that it concerned political parties and voters seeking free and fair elections.
