New Delhi: The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Sunday submitted a massive volume of affidavits and documents—reportedly transported in two trucks—to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The move is a critical step to establish their claim over the party’s original identity, name, and the iconic ‘Jora Phool’ (twin-flower) election symbol amid a bitter internal dispute.
The ongoing political and legal battle stems from a rival faction, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, staking its claim to the party’s organisational control and funds following a severe internal rift. Representing the Mamata camp, Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee stated that they have strictly complied with the Supreme Court’s directives by providing both physical and digital copies of their evidence to the poll panel. The faction claimed to have submitted verified affidavits from 17 MPs, 32 MLAs in West Bengal, five MLAs in Meghalaya, one MLA in Assam, and over two lakh grassroots-level workers.
Launching a scathing attack on the rival group, Kalyan Banerjee accused the Ritabrata faction of resorting to widespread forgery to inflate their numbers. “We have original affidavits. We have no fear. They have forged affidavits. So they have not given it out of fear,” the MP asserted. He further alleged that officers across various police stations were coercing individuals to sign the rival faction’s documents. Challenging the opposition’s claims, he dared the Ritabrata group to publicly prove its support, entirely dismissing their previous assertion of having the backing of 65 MLAs.
The physical submission of these legal documents has been marked by high drama on the highways. Recently, Ritabrata Banerjee accused the Mamata camp of attempting to intercept and loot a truck carrying their respective affidavits near Haryana. The Mamata faction vehemently denied the charge, calling it “utterly baseless” and questioning why a truck travelling from Kolkata to Delhi would take a detour through Haryana.
Addressing the logistics of their own massive submission, Kalyan Banerjee confirmed outside the Election Commission office that one truckload of documents had already arrived in the national capital, adding that another truck was expected to reach shortly.
With both factions now submitting their competing claims in the thousands, the Election Commission faces the daunting task of scrutinizing the authenticity of the voluminous affidavits. The poll panel will examine the legal validity of each faction’s claim in a time-bound manner, as directed by the apex court, to finally settle the high-stakes battle for the Trinamool Congress’s legacy.