Competing factions within the All India Trinamool Congress have been summoned to appear before the Election Commission on October 30, marking the body's first scheduled hearing since both groups lost access to the party's symbol ahead of West Bengal's bypolls, according to officials speaking on Friday.

More than a month elapsed between that September 17 interim order — issued after the poll body took oral submissions from representatives of both the Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy factions — and the present hearing, with the Election Commission having concluded at that earlier stage that a full determination under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968 would be necessary.

A directive from the Election Commission barred the group from invoking that party name or displaying the "Flowers and Grass symbol" throughout the West Bengal bypoll period. New designations and electoral symbols were assigned to them at a later stage, enabling participation in the bypoll contests.

O'Brien, serving as joint secretary of Trinamool Congress, confirmed his faction's intention to attend the hearing while pointing to what he described as a pattern of delay requests from the opposing side. Banerjee, who holds the Leader of Opposition post in the West Bengal Assembly, told reporters that his side would attend the hearing and voiced confidence in the strength of their position.

Responding to questions about the hearing, O'Brien noted that the process had been under way since July and asked why the election body had taken so long to act on the matter, adding that the opposing party had submitted its initial correspondence to the Election Commission as far back as 22 June. Both parties were directed by the EC to submit their responses no later than 6 July.

O'Brien, speaking to a news outlet, stated that no such action had taken place, and that those involved had subsequently done nothing beyond repeatedly requesting additional time. He noted that the only contact made with the EC had taken the form of appeals for additional time.

The Rajya Sabha MP contended that the Election Commission had extended the deadline by 70 days, while also noting that his party had met every deadline set before it. He argued that a timeline of 14 dates undermines what he described as the group's stated position.

With demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision exercise still under way, O'Brien noted that the scheduled meeting remained about a fortnight off and that developments between now and then could not be ruled out. Public discontent has been reported at a national scale. Demonstrators spanning every generation joined the streets in protest, he told reporters.

Ritabrata Banerjee told reporters that his party intended to appear before the Election Commission for the scheduled hearing, describing the process as a standard procedural step. He expressed a high degree of confidence on behalf of the group.

Competing claims over who legitimately controls the AITC — covering both the party's internal organisational setup and the question of authorised signatories — are now before the Election Commission for adjudication.

On 22 June, a gathering of dissident leaders called by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee produced both a declaration that a new national working committee would be established and a vote placing Arup Roy at its head. Pointing to Article 20 of the AITC constitution — which he said mandates the national working committee be reconstituted on a three-year cycle — Ritabrata put forward the position that the party had entered a period of constitutional breakdown.

The body established in February 2022 wrapped up its term three years later, in February 2025, and no extension or renewal was put in place, according to his account.

Trinamool Congress, the party under Mamata Banerjee's leadership, has argued that the opposing faction is drawing on a clause rendered obsolete by later amendments to the party's own constitution. The AITC contested the rival faction's characterisation of party membership, noting that notices had been publicly distributed at each stage of the organisational election and that all sitting MPs and MLAs held registered membership.

The party's side further argued that the gathering held on 22 June fell short of what the rules demand, given that the layered, step-by-step procedure required for forming organisational committees had been bypassed entirely.

Banerjee's faction has put forward the position that its 22 June gathering was conducted in full compliance with party rules, while leaving the question of which grouping holds legitimate standing to be resolved by the Election Commission.