Almost 28 years after Mamata Banerjee set up All India Trinamool Congress and designed symbol of grass and flowers, Election Commission on Sept 17, 2026 froze party’s name and symbol. 14-page order said since two rival groups — one led by Mamata Banerjee and other by Arup Roy — claim to be party, matter requires substantive determination, neither can use name or symbol. ECI allotted new names and symbols.
Move effectively denies Mamata of her party. For nearly three decades crores voted, elected her CM three times, sent scores as MPs. Even April 2026 Assembly polls, 41% electorate or 2.60 crore voted for her party, margin between it and BJP only 32 lakh votes. Opposition including Congress said similar attempts made in Shiv Sena case, calling freezing as party theft and democratic decline.
Editorial argues political parties are organic entities that keep democracy vibrant. If party has to wither away, it should happen through people, not Commission. Serious questions raised about ECI role which held Bengal Assembly polls in 2026 after hurriedly organised SIR that left lakhs of voters out, and now freezing name and symbol of principal Opposition.
Free and fair elections bedrock of republic. When engines ensuring will of electorate reflected through free and fair elections are dismantled, ECI cannot absolve itself hiding behind processes. BJP leadership in Bengal repeatedly claimed after Assembly polls there would be no existence of Trinamool as party. ECI’s acts of omission and commission suggest acting in tandem with BJP interests.
Freezing symbol freezes voter memory. In India, illiterate voters vote symbol, not manifesto. Taking grass and flowers away before determination is not neutrality, it is punishment. If split is real, test should be organisational majority and legislative majority — not freeze both and allot new symbols to both, erasing 28-year-old identity.