Mamata Banerjee takes fight for Trinamool name and symbol to Supreme Court

The faction of the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the party’s name and its traditional flowers-and-grass symbol.

The legal challenge, filed on Friday, came hours after the poll panel stripped both rival factions of the 'All India Trinamool Congress' identity. The freeze is an interim measure ahead of crucial assembly by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar on 6 October.

For now, the poll panel has forced both sides to run under temporary names. Banerjee’s faction has been designated the 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and given a football player symbol. The breakaway group, led by Ritabrata Banerjee and Arup Roy, is now the 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and will contest under the symbol of an envelope.

Banerjee did not hide her anger at the decision. Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata’s Kalighat, she called the freezing of the 'Jora Ghash Phul' symbol a "black day" in India’s democratic history, comparing the loss of the party’s identity to a mother losing her child. She vowed to fight to reclaim the name and symbol "politically, democratically and legally."

In her petition to the Supreme Court, Banerjee argues that the Election Commission failed to properly examine the party's actual organisational structure. Instead, the plea claims, the commission relied on statements from rebel legislators who are currently facing disqualification proceedings under the constitution’s Tenth Schedule, which governs anti-defection.

This is not the only legal battle the Mamata faction is fighting. They have filed a separate petition in the Supreme Court targeting the West Bengal assembly speaker. The camp accuses the speaker of dragging his feet on petitions to disqualify 10 rebel MLAs. They are also challenging the official recognition of Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

Why the party split

The crisis within the party traces back to May 2026, when the Trinamool Congress lost the West Bengal assembly elections. The defeat triggered a rapid rebellion. By June, 58 rebel MLAs had bypassed Mamata's nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, to elect Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader in the assembly.

The revolt soon spread to Delhi. Twenty of the party's Lok Sabha MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, joined a little-known group called the NCPI, writing to the Speaker to ask to be recognised as a separate bloc backing the BJP-led national government. By late June, the rebels went so far as to claim they had removed Mamata Banerjee as party chairperson, appointing senior MLA Arup Roy in her place.

What happens next

The immediate trigger for the Election Commission's freeze is the upcoming voting in Nandigram and Rejinagar. The Nandigram seat became vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari chose to give it up to keep his Bhabanipur seat, while AJUP leader Humayun Kabir vacated Rejinagar.

With counting scheduled for 9 October, both factions must now campaign under their temporary symbols while they wait to see if the Supreme Court will intervene. The court has not yet registered or numbered the petition, meaning a hearing date remains unconfirmed.