New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) The Election Commission (EC) has not passed any interim order in a dispute over the organisational control of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), party MP Kalyan Banerjee said on Sunday, as the poll panel gave the Mamata Banerjee-led faction time till September 16 to submit additional documents and said it would hold a hearing on September 17, if required.
The two rival factions of the TMC — one headed by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and another by rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee — met EC officials separately on Saturday.
“The Election Commission has not passed any interim order. Election Commission has directed us to appear on 16th and 17th September. Therefore, our party candidates in by-election contest with our party symbol, i.e. two flowers with grass,” Kalyan Banerjee said in a post on X.
Sources in the Mamata Banerjee-led camp said the EC has written to the party following Saturday’s hearing, informing it that it can submit additional details, particulars and documents by 3 pm on September 16. The commission has said it would hold a hearing at 4 pm on September 17, if required, they added.
The EC has also enclosed copies of the documents submitted by the Ritabrata Banerjee faction with its communication to the TMC, the sources said. The documents include a letter dated September 11 from Ritabrata Banerjee, an email dated September 12 with orders of a court in Kolkata’s Alipore and a letter dated September 12 from party leader Chandrima Bhattacharya, besides a newspaper clipping published on June 5, they added.
The sources said the Mamata Banerjee camp has already submitted certain additional documents to the EC on Sunday and would make further submissions within the time granted by the poll panel.
They said the party has submitted documents relating to its organisational history, including those concerning the 2015, 2017 and 2026 organisational processes, as well as a receiving copy pertaining to the latest submissions.
The TMC has consistently maintained that its organisational structure is valid and that the rebel faction has failed to establish its claim over the party organisation.
The fresh communication from the EC comes ahead of the September 16 deadline for filing nominations for the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, scheduled for October 6.
The two sides appeared before the full commission on Saturday over competing claims concerning the party’s organisational structure and authorised signatories.
A five-member delegation comprising Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale and advocate Abhinav Singh represented the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC before the commission.
The party has argued that there is no genuine organisational dispute and pointed to its practice of holding organisational polls every five years. It has cited Rule 9(a) of the 2010 version of the party constitution available with the EC, which says the term of every TMC committee and its office-bearers, the executive committee and its members shall ordinarily be for five years.
The Mamata Banerjee camp has also pointed out that several MLAs supporting the rival claim contested this year’s West Bengal Assembly polls on TMC tickets.
The TMC sources also pointed to recent changes made in authorised signatories, when Bhattacharya was removed and O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee were made authorised signatories.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction has claimed that the party’s organisational structure has ceased to be valid and sought recognition from the poll panel.
The dispute began after Ritabrata Banerjee, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, convened a meeting of rebel leaders on June 22 and announced a new National Working Committee of the TMC, with Arup Roy elected as its chairperson.
Ritabrata Banerjee has claimed that the previous committee’s tenure has ended and alleged a constitutional crisis in the party.
The Mamata Banerjee faction has rejected the claim, saying the rebel camp is relying on an outdated provision of the party constitution and has not followed the prescribed organisational process. PTI AO RC
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