Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has sharply criticised the Election Commission’s interim decision to prevent both rival Trinamool Congress 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 on Friday, Gandhi accused the Election Commission and the BJP of following what he described as a repeated pattern of splitting political parties and subsequently taking away their established election symbols. His comments came a day after the poll panel issued its interim order in the dispute over control of the TMC.
“Vote chori, sarkar chori, ab party chori” (First vote theft, government theft, and now party theft), Gandhi wrote, describing these developments as “symbols of our democratic decline.”
Rahul Gandhi draws comparison with Shiv Sena, NCP disputes
Gandhi linked the latest TMC dispute with earlier political conflicts involving the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
According to Gandhi, a similar sequence had occurred in those cases, where internal divisions were followed by disputes over the parties’ official identities and election symbols.
“When an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too,” he said.
He also alleged that the BJP and Election Commission were working together to divide political parties before their established symbols were taken away. These are Gandhi’s allegations; the Election Commission’s order itself says the TMC dispute requires a substantive determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
Gandhi says EC is not protecting electoral mandate
The Congress leader also questioned the Election Commission’s constitutional role in protecting the electoral mandate.
“The ECI’s constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate but instead, it’s aiding those very forces that overturn the people’s verdict,” Gandhi said.
He further said the issue should not be viewed only as a dispute involving Mamata Banerjee.
“This fight isn’t just Mamata Banerjee’s. It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” he added.
What did the Election Commission order?
The Election Commission issued an interim order on Thursday night after hearing representatives of the two rival groups claiming control over the All India Trinamool Congress.
The commission said the dispute involved two rival groups and required a detailed determination under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
Until that process is completed, neither faction will be allowed to use the name “All India Trinamool Congress” or the reserved “Flowers and Grass” symbol for the current bypolls.
The order is an interim arrangement for the upcoming elections and does not constitute the final decision on which faction is entitled to the party’s name and symbol.
Both TMC factions asked to submit new names and symbols
The Election Commission has asked both sides to submit three preferred names and three free-symbol choices.
The alternatives will be used for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls, while the larger dispute over the party’s organisational control and its established identity remains pending.
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction subsequently submitted its alternative choices to the Election Commission late Thursday night, while making clear that it was doing so under strong protest against the interim order.
Congress had already criticised EC decision
Rahul Gandhi’s latest remarks came after the Congress had already attacked the Election Commission’s decision on Thursday.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal described the order as CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s “late night birthday gift” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress has argued that the decision raises questions about the role of the poll panel, while the Election Commission has maintained that its interim arrangement is intended to address the immediate electoral situation while the party dispute is examined under the applicable rules.
TMC identity dispute now reaches Bengal bypolls
The immediate impact of the Election Commission’s order will be seen in the upcoming West Bengal bypolls, where the rival TMC factions will have to contest using separate temporary identities rather than the established party name and “Flowers and Grass” symbol.
The bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar have therefore become the first major electoral test for the rival groups under the Election Commission’s interim arrangement.
The final decision on the TMC’s name and symbol will depend on the commission’s substantive proceedings under the Symbols Order.
