Election Commission Gives Ritabrata-Led TMC Faction Until July 10 to Submit Organisational Claims

PTI, July 7, 2026, New Delhi: The Election Commission has asked the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction to submit its claims regarding the issue of authorised signatories and organisational elections of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) by Friday, July 10, sources said.

On July 2, the Election Commission asked the rival factions of the Trinamool Congress to submit their claims and counter-claims concerning the authorised signatories and organisational elections of the party.

The poll body sent letters to both Mamata Banerjee and rebel faction leader Ritabrata Banerjee, asking them to submit their responses by 5.30 pm on July 6.

While the Mamata Banerjee-led faction submitted its response on Monday, the Election Commission has now granted the rebel faction time until 5.30 pm on Friday to file its submissions, the sources added.

A senior TMC leader alleged that the extension indicated the Election Commission was acting "at the behest of the BJP".

In its response submitted to the Election Commission on Monday, the Mamata Banerjee-led party rejected the rebel faction's claims and maintained that the TMC's organisational committees remain valid until 2027 under the party's constitution.

The party stated that its last organisational elections were held in 2022 and argued that the rival faction's claim that the committees ceased to exist in 2025 was both factually and legally untenable.

The dispute intensified last week after a delegation led by Ritabrata Banerjee met the full bench of the Election Commission and claimed that it represented the "real" All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

The rebel faction said it had informed the Election Commission after holding a special organisational session on June 22 and sought recognition of the organisational changes it claimed to have carried out.