Rahul Gandhi slams EC over TMC name, symbol ban, says ‘vote chori, govt chori, now party chori’

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Election Commission over its decision of directing rival Trinamool Congress factions to not use the party name and the "flowers and grass symbol" during the West Bengal bypolls, saying the poll body's constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate but instead, it is aiding those very forces that overturn the people's verdict.

"First 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 said in a post in Hindi on X.

When an entire party can be stolen, it's hardly surprising that the votes of crores of Indians can be stolen too, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.


"Vote chori. Government chori. Now party chori - these have become symbols of our democratic decline," Gandhi said.

"The ECI's constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate but instead, it's aiding those very forces that overturn the people's verdict," he said.

Also read: Mamata-led TMC submits new name, symbol choices under protest after EC bars party name, ‘flowers and grass’ for Bengal bypolls

"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.

The Congress on Thursday condemned the Election Commission's decision of directing rival All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) factions to not use the party name and the "flowers and grass symbol" during the West Bengal bypolls, alleging that it was abdication of constitutional responsibility by the poll body.

The Congress had further said freezing the AITC name and symbol is CEC Gyanesh Kumar's "late night birthday gift" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Election Commission has directed rival factions of the AITC not to use the party name and symbol during the bypolls, and asked them to submit their preferred names and symbols by Friday morning.

Also read: Election Commission bars TMC factions from using party name, symbol

In its interim order issued on Thursday night, the Commission, after hearing leaders of the two factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy, said the matter requires substantive determination by the poll body under provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.

In its interim order, the EC said, "On due consideration of the totality of information available on record... the Commission is of the opinion that there are two rival groups in the All India Trinamool Congress, one led by Ms. Mamata Banerjee and the other led by Shri Arup Roy."

"Each group is now claiming to be the party, and therefore the matter requires a substantive determination by the Commission under Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order 1968," it said.

Accordingly, the Commission said, to place both the rival groups on an even keel and to protect their rights and interests and going by the past precedent, the Commission gave its interim order to cover the purpose of the current by-elections and to continue till the final determination of the dispute in the matter.

"Neither of the two groups led by Shri Arup Roy (Petitioner) and the other led by Ms. Mamata Banerjee (Respondent) shall be permitted to use the name of the party 'All India Trinamool Congress'.

"Neither of the two groups shall also be permitted to use the symbol 'Flowers and Grass', reserved for 'All India Trinamool Congress'," the Commission said.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that on one hand, the BJP wants us to believe that Modi is immensely popular, and on the other hand, it uses the ECI to hijack electoral finance, delimitation, electoral rolls, political parties and the entire electoral system.

"The contradiction is hard to miss. They boast so confidently - photo-ops, big rallies, influencer summits, paid PR, films, documentaries. You name it, they have it. Yet the BJP does not trust its popularity to speak for itself. It sneaks back into power through the back door - with the ECI at its side," Khera said on X.

That is not the characteristic of brave men, he said.

"And the thing about cowards? They don't last very long," Khera added.

Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said the once globally respected Election Commission of India, currently resembles the way such institutions are run in dictatorships.

"Why does the BJP and the bureaucracy in the CEC think that the people of India will accept this forever ? Remember Newton's third law of motion," Gogoi said on X.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the Election Commission's decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress's election symbol is absolutely wrong.

"The faction that has split from Trinamool has no constitutional basis. This arbitrariness is fatal for democracy and the country," she said.

Congress general secretary Bhupesh Baghel said this is a fight to save democracy.

"Chanda Chhor, in collusion with the Election Commission, is engaged in vote theft, government theft, party theft, and now symbol theft," he said in a post in Hindi.

The Congress on Thursday condemned the Election Commission's decision of directing rival All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) factions to not use the party name and the "flowers and grass symbol" during the West Bengal bypolls, alleging that it was abdication of constitutional responsibility by the poll body.

Those who fought against the BJP, under Mamata Banerjee's leadership, are now being given the red carpet to rebel against her and commit the unconstitutional sin of defection with the ECI's help, he said on X.

The ECI has once again proven that it is nothing more than "a puppet in the hands of the BJP" and a "tool to destroy democracy bit by bit", Venugopal alleged.

"They did it in the case of Shiv Sena, NCP, and now AITC - whoever opposes the BJP is dealt a fatal blow and their entire electoral existence is snatched away from them," he said.

"We condemn this move, and demand that the ECI immediately restore the two leaves symbol to Mamata Banerjee ji," Venugopal said.

Khera had said the ECI's decision to freeze the AITC symbol is not "justice". "It is an abdication of its constitutional responsibility," he said on X.

"The breakaway faction of the AITC has no constitutional basis and hence, no legitimate claim to the AITC symbol. The symbol belongs to the party that bears its name," Khera said.