Ritabrata-led TMC faction gets July 10 deadline to submit signatory, organisational poll claims

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) The Election Commission has asked the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction to submit its claims on the issue of authorised signatories and organisational polls of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) by Friday, July 10, sources said. On July 2, the Election Commission asked rival factions of the Trinamool Congress to submit their claims and counter-claims over the authorised signatories and organisational polls 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 camp filed its response on Monday, the commission has now given the rebel faction time till 5.30 pm on Friday to file its submissions, sources said. A senior TMC leader claimed the extension showed the Election Commission was acting "at the behest of the BJP". In its reply submitted on Monday to the EC, the Mamata Banerjee-led party rejected the rebel faction's claims and maintained that the TMC's organisational committees remain valid till 2027 under the party constitution. It said the last organisational elections were held in 2022 and contended that the rival faction's claim that the committees ceased to exist in 2025 was factually and legally untenable. The tussle intensified last week after a delegation led by Ritabrata Banerjee met the full bench of the Election Commission and claimed it represented the "real" All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). The faction said it had informed the commission after holding a special organisational session on June 22 and sought recognition of the organisational changes it claimed to have carried out. PTI AO NAB MPL MPL