The TMC war of affidavits in the Election Commission | Political Pulse News
There have been claims of a truck being illegally intercepted; questions about why a truck travelling from Kolkata to New Delhi took a route passing through Haryana; fingerpointing over the costs of road vs air transport; and allegations of police being misused for party work.
The TMC is far from the first to do the paper chase. The AIADMK went through this in 2017, with 10 lakh affidavits in total submitted by the E Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam factions, as per an ECI statement. The Shiv Sena’s split in 2023 was an even more elaborate exercise, with the Uddhav Thackeray faction alone claiming to have submitted 23 lakh affidavits. Later the same year, the NCP’s two factions, led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, reportedly put up 40,000 and 60,000 affidavits respectively.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction has written to senior state government and police officials alleging that the ruling BJP is using the police to obtain affidavits in favour of the dissident TMC group and claiming that “illegal and arbitrary directions” had been made for the issue and distribution of stamp papers for filing affidavits before the ECI.
In a letter to the Director General of Police and Kolkata Police Commissioner, the Mamata TMC national joint secretary, Dola Sen, said police personnel had been directed to collect “dummy affidavits” from non-TMC members to bolster the rival faction’s claims. On the other hand, the Mamata faction was finding it difficult to even obtain stamp papers for their affidavits, Sen, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said.
“OCs and ICs (in-charges) of police stations are using force and influence to get signatures on affidavits in favour of the traitor group led by Ritabrata Banerjee and Arup Roy,” Sen wrote, adding that with each of the 607 police stations asked to collect over 1,100 affidavits, at least six lakh affidavits would be gathered thus.
Police officials refused to comment on the matter.
Soon after Sen’s police complaint, the rebel faction that goes by the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and has pledged support to the BJP alleged that a truck carrying its documents to the ECI, which had set off from Kolkata on October 24, was “targeted” near the Haryana-Delhi border. The leader of the Democratic TMC, Ritabrata Banerjee, claimed that unidentified people tried to take control of the vehicle and remove the affidavits, but party workers thwarted the attempt.
Speaking to ANI on October 28, Banerjee said: “Our documents were dispatched from Kolkata early on the 24th; we do not have the capacity to transport them via a chartered flight – unlike the other side. Our personnel were also in the truck. At the Haryana border—around 2.50 AM (I received a call at 3.00 AM)—individuals forced their way in, made our people get out, brandished weapons, and drove the vehicle away.”
The Mamata faction dismissed the claims. While Sen said the people would have the final say on which is the real TMC, Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee expressed surprise over the truck’s alleged route. “We will win in this entire episode,” he told The Indian Express.
Subsequently, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari offered to probe the matter if Ritabrata registered an FIR.
Ritabrata told The Indian Express: “We have already submitted our documents to the ECI. We submitted lakhs and lakhs of affidavits and those who tried to snatch our container were unsuccessful. We have filed a complaint on the matter.”
Speaking to IANS on Thursday, Ritabrata again made the trucks vs air comparison, adding: “Six of our trucks have arrived at the ECI, and the remaining three are on their way. The unloading of documents from one truck has been completed.”
The dispute
After the TMC split in the wake of its routing in this year’s Assembly elections, the ECI froze the use of the name All India Trinamool Congress and its symbol on September 17 till there was a “substantive determination” of which was the real TMC. It also asked the two factions to submit affidavits from its leaders and workers to prove their mass base, so as to lay claim to the TMC name and symbol.
For the October 6 bypolls in Bengal, the ECI allotted separate names and symbols to the two factions – with one to be called the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and have the symbol of a ‘football player’, and the other to have the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and an ‘envelope’ as the symbol.
Sources said that the affidavits to be submitted must mention the designation of the worker or leader, his or her details including occupation, residential address, voter ID number, whether he or she is a citizen of India or not, the number of years spent in the party, and the faction he or she aligns with. He or she also has to declare their solidarity with either Mamata or Arup Roy, the chairman of the Democratic TMC.
At a hearing on September 29, the ECI had mentioned the number of affidavits to be considered and told the Supreme Court it needed at least six months to go through them. Senior Advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, said, “I will tell you the practical problem. Rival parties, cadres, members and everybody… file affidavits. They come in lakhs.”
The Supreme Court suggested then that the ECI use AI and machine-learning tools to “expedite” the paperwork. “To some extent, this may help,” Naidu said, “though not to the fullest.”
Meanwhile, more documents are on their way to the ECI. Magrahat West MLA Samim Ahamed Molla has written to the poll panel now that he remains with Mamata, and has submitted an affidavit saying the same. Any affidavit submitted in his name by Ritabrata’s side should be ignored, Molla’s letter to the ECI says.
