The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission to provide a timeline for resolving the TMC name and election symbol dispute. The case involves Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress faction. Earlier, the Election Commission froze the party name and symbol during the dispute. Following this decision, Mamata Banerjee approached the Supreme Court against the interim order.
According to an IANS report, the court scheduled the next hearing for September 28. Meanwhile, Mamata challenged the commission’s decision to restrict the party’s original identity.
Mamata Faction Warns Of Election Impact
The Mamata faction told the court that delayed symbol clearance could affect corporation elections in November. Therefore, the group requested an early decision from the Election Commission. The commission had taken an interim step due to upcoming bypolls. Additionally, it assigned separate names and symbols to both groups.
Mamata’s faction received the name “Mamata TMC” along with a football player symbol. However, the rebel group received “Democratic TMC” with an envelope symbol.
Kapil Sibal Raises Concerns Over Symbol Freeze
A bench of Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana heard the petition. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal represented the Mamata faction. Sibal clarified that the party was not asking to stop elections. Instead, he requested permission to keep the original name and symbol. He described the matter as a question of the party’s existence. Furthermore, Sibal argued that the commission froze the symbol during an active election process.
Justice Bagchi said the Election Commission should decide the issue quickly. Subsequently, Sibal argued that the commission could repeat similar actions in future elections without court intervention.
Election Commission Gives Separate Identities To Factions
Recently, the Election Commission allotted different identities to both groups. Mamata’s faction received “Mamata TMC” and the football player symbol. On the other hand, the rebel faction received “Democratic TMC” and the envelope symbol. The Supreme Court will continue hearing the matter on September 28.
