The battle over the Trinamool Congress (TMC) name and symbol has taken Ritabrata Banerjee and his faction to Delhi to appear before the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday. A 10-member delegation, comprising nine MLAs and one former MLA, met with the ECI to present their case. The specific details, including the contents of the letter submitted to the commission, were not disclosed to the media.
The rebel bloc of the TMC held an All India Trinamool Congress(AITC) national working committee meeting on June 22nd and a day later wrote a letter to ECI informing the apex polling body of the developments, including appointing Arup Roy as the Chairman.
“We formally gave in writing to the Election Commission of India(ECI). We physically met the Election Commissioner in Kolkata. At that time itself, we had sought an appointment with the ECI. We are thankful that ECI’s full bench and the CEC today gave us a patient hearing. We have made our points,” said Ritrabrata Banerjee.
“We are hopeful that the Election Commission will get back to us very shortly.”
The meeting was held against the backdrop of a banner that excluded photos of TMC founder Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee. Mamata remains the chairperson of her own faction—which commands the loyalty of 15 MLAs—with Abhishek still serving as its national general secretary. Meanwhile, the rebel Ritabrata faction claims the support of 65 MLAs.
“This collective is against the individual cult. It has worked tirelessly and will work to uphold the Constitution and ideals of All India Trinamool Congress,” added Ritabrata.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, the Calcutta High Court (HC) refused to lift the freeze order on three bank accounts held at HDFC Bank’s Central Plaza branch. The court, however, directed the bank's branch manager to file an affidavit by July 7 detailing the exact corpus of those accounts. The matter is scheduled for its next hearing on July 8.
The accounts of TMC were frozen following a letter by the former TMC treasurer Aroop Biswas stating that funds can be misappropriated by unauthorised persons signing the cheques, since there are two factions of the party. The letter was followed by a formal complaint lodged with the cybercrime cell under the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. The complaint, submitted by 10 MLAs representing the Ritabrata faction, demanded an investigation into the party's funds. It questioned the legitimate source of these finances and sought an inquiry into transactions hinting at illegal practices, such as extortion and bribes, locally known as "cut money."
Following the complaint, the three accounts with around ₹ 440 crore were put under ‘debit freeze’, preventing withdrawal transactions. Crediting transactions, however, were permitted.
Mamata's faction questions meeting with ECI
The Mamata Banerjee faction of TMC has questioned the Ritabrata bloc’s meeting with the full bench of ECI, stating that only recognised representatives of a political party can request to meet the EC or give a letter.
Today, we saw a breakaway gang compiled of people gathered from here and there. An expelled leader goes and meets the full bench of the Election Commission. According to EC rules, only recognised representatives can meet the full bench. How did this breakaway gang, which held its meetings at the Novotel, manage to meet the full bench of the EC?” questioned TMC MP, Sagarika Ghose.
Ghose hints at a conspiracy by the BJP and Amit Shah, accusing the EC of working on the behest of Shah.
“No letter has gone from our side. If a letter is to be given, only the All India Trinamool Congress can give it,” added Ghose with an indirect reference to Ritabrata, who was expelled by the Mamata faction.
Mamata Banerjee, the TMC chairperson, did not request any meeting. How is it then that these breakaway MLAs were granted time? We will decide who our representative is,” said TMC MP Sougata Roy, questioning whether individuals or independent candidates had ever been granted an audience with the full bench of the EC in the past.
Roy also stated that they have submitted a letter signed by several MPs seeking the impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a matter on which the Speaker has yet to make a decision.
