New Delhi, 28 September (H.S.): The Supreme Court has set a timeline for resolving the dispute over the election symbol between the two factions of the Trinamool Congress. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said on Monday that the Election Commission would have four weeks to hear the arguments of both sides, followed by three months to deliver its decision.

The Election Commission’s counsel had sought six months to decide the matter, but the court rejected the request. The Bench observed that if the Commission faced greater difficulty in complying with the timeline, it could approach the court.

During the previous hearing on September 24, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mamata Banerjee, had submitted that the Election Commission was delaying its decision in the matter. He had suggested that the Commission conduct day-to-day hearings to expedite the proceedings.

Mamata Banerjee has challenged the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the party’s name and election symbol amid the dispute between the two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress. On September 18, the Election Commission ordered that separate names and election symbols be allotted to the two rival factions.

The Election Commission has since allotted new names and symbols to both factions. The faction led by Mamata Banerjee was assigned the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the election symbol of a football player. The rival faction was allotted the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and an envelope as its election symbol. Assembly by-elections are scheduled to be held in Nandigram and Rejinagar on October 6.

In June, 58 rebel MLAs had elected expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, replacing Mamata Banerjee faction candidate Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and secured recognition from the Speaker. It was the first split in the party’s 28-year history.

A few days later, the rebellion reportedly extended to Parliament. Twenty Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar joined the lesser-known NCPI and wrote to Speaker Om Birla expressing support for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as a separate group, deepening the divide within the party’s parliamentary wing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar