Congress and the Left have also questioned the Commission’s decision. Left leader Kaustav Chatterjee alleged that the allocation was not an accidental error and claimed it was intended to split minority votes.
“We do not believe the Election Commission has made an accidental mistake. We believe it has acted on the BJP’s instructions. The intention is to split minority votes, and the envelope symbol has deliberately been given to another party at the last moment to confuse voters,” he said. “The matter is now before the court, and we hope it will be resolved before the election.”
The controversy comes against the backdrop of the ECI’s intervention in the internal dispute within the Trinamool Congress.
The original All India Trinamool Congress name and ‘twin flowers and grass’ symbol have been frozen for the by-polls. TMC founder and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s faction has been assigned the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘football player’ symbol, while the rival faction has been given the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and ‘envelope’. Banerjee has challenged the ECI’s decision in the Supreme Court.
The ‘envelope’ dispute reached a flashpoint on Thursday, 24 September when Calcutta High Court Justice Krishna Rao questioned the ECI’s decision during the hearing of the ISF’s petition.
The court asked why the symbol, which the ISF had used only months earlier, was not kept in reserve when the EC had 183 other free symbols at its disposal. “The authority should act fairly,” Rao observed, while questioning why the Commission’s decisions repeatedly resulted in parties being forced to approach the courts.
The court also questioned why no notification had been issued regarding the allocation of symbols for the by-poll.
The ECI has been asked to explain the circumstances surrounding the allotment and provide the relevant information. The matter will be heard again on 25 September.
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