A dispute over ownership of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) name and its 'jora phul' (twin flowers) symbol has drawn competing claims, with the Mamata Banerjee-led group alleging that police assisted the opposing camp in gathering affidavits. Those allegations have put the impartiality of the proceedings under scrutiny, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) scheduled to rule on 30 October over which of the two factions holds the legitimate right to carry the party's banner.

Kunal Ghosh, a member of the legislative assembly and spokesperson for the All India Trinamool Congress, has alleged that the BJP is directing police and administrative resources in a manner that benefits the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction operating under the banner of Democratic Trinamool Congress. Ghosh characterised the opposing faction as relying on law-enforcement channels to compile paperwork rather than building support from within the community.

According to Ghosh, officers at police stations had been directed to obtain bulk quantities of court documents, which were to be stamped, filled out, and lodged as sworn affidavits. The claims, Ghosh noted, drew on accounts from both law enforcement and political circles, and pointed to pressure being applied on personnel across district police offices, magistrates' offices, and related administrative bodies to participate — with police stations themselves identified as the operational base for the activity.

He went on to allege that a police officer had gathered a volume of pre-stamped court documents from a notary — with the actual details left blank for later entry — and further contended that those involved intended to draw on the electoral roll to populate those forms remotely, thereby artificially inflating the figures. Ghosh raised a further concern: the individuals whose names featured on those affidavits may have had no awareness of their inclusion, leaving a substantial portion of the submissions without any reliable means of confirmation.

He claimed that the BJP and Suvendu Adhikari had worked together to move against Mamata Banerjee's faction, noting that party supporters were filling out affidavit forms at local offices in keeping with standard procedures, while police conduct, in his view, appeared to favour the group he referred to as the "traitor camp."

The same allegations were put forward by Dola Sen, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress. Letters were dispatched by her to the state chief secretary, the director-general of police, and the Kolkata Police commissioner, urging each official to examine the reported irregularities.

In a written communication addressed to the chief secretary, Sen alleged that district magistrates had, through informal channels, directed stamp-paper vendors to provide approximately 25,000 stamp papers to local police stations — an arrangement she characterised as unlawful and, in her view, designed to benefit the faction led by Ritabrata. Through separate written communications, Sen alleged that officers in charge of police stations had been directed to gather upwards of 1,100 signed affidavits apiece, drawing in individuals who held no affiliation with TMC. Allegations were also raised that officers within the police force leveraged their positions to gather signatures backing the opposing faction.

Denials from the opposing party met each of those claims in turn. Ritabrata Banerjee's position was that the allegations originating from the Mamata-led faction reflected that group's own awareness of the documentary gaps it faced before the Election Commission, rather than any substantive basis for the claims themselves. He demanded both an apology and documentary evidence, having already turned the matter over to his lawyers.

Arup Roy, identified as a leader within the Ritabrata faction, pushed back against any suggestion of police involvement, questioning why law enforcement would intervene in what he described as an internal party matter, and maintained that members of the faction had been gathering the affidavits themselves.

The BJP also put forward a position distancing itself from any involvement in the matter. Sayantan Basu, a party spokesperson, attributed the unrest to divisions within the TMC itself, adding that neither the BJP government nor the party had any involvement in what he described as a purely internal matter.

Sworn declarations have been called for by the ECI so that adjudicators can establish which of the two factions holds a valid entitlement to the Trinamool name and its electoral symbol. In the wake of the organisational rupture between the factions headed by Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee, party officials and elected representatives on each side have been directed to file affidavits stating where their allegiance lies. The submitted paperwork is expected to give the Commission a basis for weighing up each faction's internal organisation before a ruling on which group holds legitimate claim to the Trinamool name.

Four weeks were allotted by the court's 28 September order for both sides to lodge their supporting documents and affidavits in the ongoing dispute. A ruling directed the Election Commission of India to settle the dispute over the party's name and symbol before the legally stipulated deadline. Each side has been ordered to file its documentary evidence no later than 26 October.

A joint hearing has been placed on the calendar for 30 October at 3.30 pm, with Nirvachan Sadan — the Commission's New Delhi base — serving as the venue. Each party had its arguments heard in isolation before this point.