Mamata Banerjee has taken the Trinamool Congress symbol dispute to the Supreme Court. Her petition challenges the Election Commission’s interim order that froze the party’s name and symbol for both rival factions. The petition was filed on September 18, a day after the Commission’s order.
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress founder and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India’s interim order freezing the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ name and the party’s reserved ‘Flowers and Grass’ election symbol, amid a dispute between rival factions of the party [Mamata Banerjee v. Election Commission of India and Others].
According to the cause list details, the petition was filed on September 18 and registered under Diary No. 58005 of 2026. It names the Election Commission of India, its Secretary, and the rival faction’s leader, Ritabrata Banerjee, as respondents.
The order under challenge
The Election Commission passed the interim order on September 17. As recorded in the order, the Commission concluded that there were two rival groups within the party, one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by Ritabrata Banerjee, each claiming to be the All India Trinamool Congress, and that the competing claims required a substantive determination. It directed that neither group use the party name or the ‘Flowers and Grass’ symbol, and asked both to submit alternative names and symbols.
The Commission has stated that the arrangement is interim, and does not amount to a final adjudication of the rival claims over the original name and symbol. The substantive dispute, it has said, is to be determined under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
The interim allotments
On September 18, the Commission allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions for the upcoming by-elections. The faction led by Mamata Banerjee was allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol. The faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee was allotted the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Envelope’ symbol.
The arrangement applies to the by-elections to the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly seats in West Bengal, scheduled for October 6.
The two sides
Mamata Banerjee, according to her public statements, has described the freezing of the party’s name and symbol as a “black day” in the country’s democratic history. Her petition, as reported, challenges the Commission’s interim order and the consequent deprivation of the established party name and symbol to her faction.
The rival faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, has defended the Commission’s decision. Ritabrata Banerjee, as reported, has said that a political party is not a private company. The rival group has claimed control over the party’s organisational and legislative structures, while the Mamata Banerjee-led faction has maintained that she remains the party’s leader.
Why it matters
The petition brings a live intra-party symbol dispute before the Supreme Court on the eve of by-elections. The Commission’s power in such disputes flows from Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, under which it may decide that one of the rival groups, or none, is the recognised party; the interim freeze is a device the Commission has used before to hold the field until that question is decided.
The order does not decide which faction is the real Trinamool Congress. It requires both to contest the October 6 bypolls under separate names and symbols while the substantive claim is adjudicated. The Supreme Court will now consider the challenge to that interim arrangement.
Case: Mamata Banerjee v. Election Commission of India and Others [Diary No. 58005 of 2026]
Filed: September 18, 2026 | Forum: Supreme Court of India
Respondents: Election Commission of India, its Secretary, and Ritabrata Banerjee
Status: Writ petition filed challenging the ECI’s interim order; matter yet to be heard. The substantive dispute over the party name and symbol is pending before the ECI under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order.