Election Commission bars both factions of Trinamool from using party name, symbol for byelections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) in an interim order on Thursday (September 17, 2026) barred both factions of the Trinamool Congress from using the party symbol and name in the coming Assembly bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal.

The poll body asked both factions led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, to submit alternative names and symbols for their groups for the byelections by Friday 11 a.m.

The Congress termed the move a “bullet through the heart of Indian democracy”.