No interim order from ECI, has sought more documents by 16 Sep: TMC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has not passed any interim order in the dispute over the organisational control of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), party MP Kalyan Banerjee said on Sunday, 13 September as the poll panel gave the Mamata Banerjee-led faction time till 16 September to submit additional documents.

The commission will hold a hearing on 17 September, if required, ahead of the deadline for filing nominations for the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, scheduled for 6 October.

The two rival factions of the TMC — one led by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the other by rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly — appeared separately before ECI officials 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 ECI had informed the party following Saturday’s hearing that it could submit additional details, particulars and documents by 3.00 pm on 16 September 16. The commission would hold a hearing at 4.00 pm on 17 September if required, they added.

The ECI also enclosed copies of documents submitted by the Ritabrata Banerjee faction, the sources said. These included a letter dated 11 September from Ritabrata Banerjee, an email dated 12 September containing orders of a court in Kolkata’s Alipore, a letter dated 12 September from party leader Chandrima Bhattacharya and a newspaper clipping published on 5 June.

The Mamata Banerjee camp had already submitted some additional documents to the ECI on Sunday and would make further submissions within the time granted by the poll panel, the sources said.

The documents included details of the party’s organisational history, including its organisational processes in 2015, 2017 and 2026, as well as a receiving copy pertaining to the latest submissions, they added. 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 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 argued that there was no genuine organisational dispute and pointed to its practice of holding organisational elections every five years. It cited Rule 9(a) of the 2010 version of the party constitution available with the EC, which states that the term of every TMC committee and its office-bearers, as well as the executive committee and its members, shall ordinarily be five years.

The Mamata Banerjee camp also pointed out that several MLAs supporting the rival claim had contested this year’s West Bengal Assembly polls on TMC tickets.

The TMC sources further referred to recent changes in authorised signatories, under which 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 is no longer valid and sought recognition from the poll panel.

The dispute began after Ritabrata Banerjee convened a meeting of rebel leaders on 22 June 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.

With PTI inputs