Mamata faction releases new party logo:Attempt to help voters identify it, by-election voting to be held on 6 October

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction issued a new logo on Monday. It features a football player as its interim election symbol. The Election Commission has temporarily frozen the party’s old name and its flower-and-grass symbol. The Commission has allotted separate names and election symbols to the two factions. The Mamata faction has been allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the football player symbol. Party leaders and elected representatives have been asked to promote it ahead of the 6 October by-election. Both TMC factions have candidates in the fray in Rejinagar The new logo is part of the Mamata faction’s attempt to establish a new electoral identity in the Rejinagar and Nandigram by-elections. Both Trinamool factions are contesting against each other in Rejinagar, while in Nandigram, the Mamata faction has withdrawn from the contest in support of the Congress candidate. The logo features an image of a football player in the centre. Around it, the words ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ are written in white against a blue background. The design also incorporates saffron, white and green. According to party sources, all office-bearers, leaders, workers and elected representatives have been asked to circulate the logo on their respective platforms. Leaders from the Mamata faction began posting it on social media on Monday afternoon. Both factions given separate names and symbols The exercise began a few days after the Election Commission froze the old name and the flower-and-grass symbol amid the ongoing internal dispute in the Trinamool Congress. The Commission has given the two factions separate interim identities for the by-elections on 6 October. The Mamata faction has been allotted the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the football player symbol. The rival faction led by Arup Roy has been given the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the envelope symbol. Only two weeks remain before the Nandigram and Rejinagar by-elections. The Mamata faction wants voters to associate the new symbol with the political identity they have long linked to the Trinamool Congress. On 17 September, the Commission blocked the old name and symbol On 17 September, the Election Commission heard the claims of both factions of the Trinamool Congress. The Commission ordered that neither faction could use the party’s existing name and symbol until a final decision was reached in the dispute. The decision came on the last day for filing nominations for the by-elections. The Commission then asked both factions to suggest alternative names and free symbols so that the election process could move forward. A day later, the Commission assigned temporary identities to both factions. This turned the internal dispute over ownership of the party into a contest on the ballot between two different names and symbols. For the Mamata faction, the choice of name also carries a political message. “Mamata” has been added to the interim name. The leader’s name has replaced the old organisational name. The football player symbol gives the faction a new visual identity to present to voters. With little time available, it has become necessary to take this identity to people quickly. Direct contest in Rejinagar, a different situation in Nandigram The new identity’s first direct electoral test will be in Rejinagar. Both rival factions of the Trinamool are contesting here. The situation is different in Nandigram. Mamata Banerjee’s candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew from the election after meeting Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari. After this, Banerjee supported Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. Later, Pradhan was arrested in cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram land acquisition movement. These separate developments have made the political atmosphere surrounding the by-elections unusual. In Rejinagar, the two Trinamool factions will be in a direct contest under new names and with new symbols. In Nandigram, meanwhile, the Mamata faction is out of the electoral race and has supported the Congress candidate. Mamata Banerjee challenges commission’s decision in Supreme Court This dispute also has a legal dimension. Mamata Banerjee has challenged the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the party’s old name and symbol in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to urgently schedule a hearing on her petition. The opposing side will also be given an opportunity to present its arguments. This legal battle could ultimately decide the party’s original name and symbol. However, it is important to run the political campaign without waiting for the verdict. The immediate challenge before the Mamata faction is to make the football-player symbol recognisable enough by 6 October for voters to identify it easily. This is a major challenge for a party whose symbol has been one of the most recognisable visual markers in Bengal politics for years. The new logo attempts to capture this change in a single image. It includes Mamata’s name, the words Trinamool Congress and the unfamiliar football-player symbol. The faction is contesting an election in which its traditional electoral identity has been suspended for the time being.