Kolkata, September 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday backed the Trinamool Congress faction led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee, while criticising the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its decision to freeze the party’s name and election symbol ahead of next month’s Assembly bypolls.
In a social media post, Gandhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ECI of following what he described as a similar pattern in their handling of opposition parties. He alleged that the poll panel had helped split political parties and subsequently removed their election symbols.
“First, it was Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern. BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away,” Gandhi alleged.
The ECI on Thursday barred both rival TMC factions from using the party name, All India Trinamool Congress, and its Flowers and Grass symbol in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly bypolls. The commission said the two groups would have to contest the elections under separate names and symbols until the dispute is resolved.
Bypolls to the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies are scheduled for October 6.
Gandhi said the development raised concerns over the protection of the votes of millions of Indians, describing the alleged takeover of an entire political party as another sign of what he termed democratic decline.
“Vote theft. Government theft. Now party theft too. These have become symbols of our democratic decline,” he said.
He also accused the ECI of failing to fulfil its constitutional responsibility to protect the electoral mandate.
“The ECI’s constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate, but instead, it’s aiding those very forces that overturn the people’s verdict. This fight isn’t just Mamata Banerjee’s. It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal also criticised the ECI’s interim decision to freeze the TMC’s name and symbol.
Venugopal alleged that the decision amounted to an unconstitutional takeover of the party by the BJP and claimed it would allow leaders who had opposed the BJP under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership to rebel against her.
He further accused the Election Commission of acting as a “puppet” of the BJP and alleged that the decision was aimed at weakening the TMC and undermining democracy.
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