Calcutta High Court Questions EC Over Envelope Symbol for Ritabrata Camp

Calcutta High Court Questions EC Over Envelope Symbol for Ritabrata Camp

The Calcutta High Court questioned the Election Commission’s decision to allot the envelope election symbol to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress for the upcoming West Bengal bypolls. During the hearing of a petition filed by the Indian Secular Front (ISF), the court questioned why the poll panel selected a symbol previously associated with the ISF when other free symbols were available.

The ISF argued that it had been using the envelope symbol and that giving it to another contestant in the same election could confuse voters. The party has instead been allotted the almirah symbol for the October 6 bypolls in Nandigram and Rejinagar.

The Election Commission told the court that the ISF is an unrecognised political party and therefore could not claim the envelope as a reserved symbol. The poll panel also submitted that the symbol had previously been allotted to the ISF temporarily and was subsequently available for reallocation.

The dispute follows the Election Commission’s interim decision to freeze the original All India Trinamool Congress name and its flowers-and-grass symbol amid competing claims from the Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee factions. The Mamata-led faction was given the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the football-player symbol, while the Ritabrata-led group received the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the envelope symbol.

The High Court’s observations came as it examined whether the symbol allocation had unnecessarily created a dispute requiring judicial intervention. The underlying dispute over the TMC’s identity and symbol remains subject to proceedings before the Election Commission.

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Published: Sep 24, 2026

cricket blog team

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