Losing national status: TMC mulls ‘all options’ to restore pride

Day after EC strips TMC of its national status, party MP Sougata Roy says it is mulling all options, including legal ones

NEW DELHI | Updated: 11 April, 2023 11:05 am IST

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will stage a sit-in demonstration in New Delhi to protest the Modi government’s alleged discrimination against West Bengal in allocation of funds

Losing national status is a big jolt to Chief minister Mamata Banerjee

A day after the Trinamool Congress lost its status as a national party, the party is mulling all options, including legal ones, to challenge the Election Commission of India’s decision.

“TMC will not give a reaction to the ECI decision just now. We are considering all options, including the legal one, to challenge the decision. The same will be expressed at the appropriate time,” senior TMC Parliamentarian Sougata Roy told The New Indian.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has withdrawn the national party status of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC along with that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), citing their failure to meet the eligibility criteria after “following due process and providing sufficient opportunity of two parliamentary elections and 21 State Assembly Elections.”

The decision was part of the commission’s list of political parties with their current status based on actual poll performance.

TMC will function as the state-recognised party in West Bengal and Tripura until 2024. The Trinamool will also be recognised as a state party in Meghalaya.
However, the ECI has withdrawn the party’s state party status from the northeastern states of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
“In consideration of the totality of facts and the bare provisions of the Symbols Order and Poll Performance, the Commission, in pursuance of the provision of Para 6 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968, withdraws the state party status for the States of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh,” ECI had said on Monday, April 12.

“Consequently, the National Party’s recognition of the All-India Trinamool Congress also stands withdrawn. The party will continue to be treated as a State recognised party in the states of West Bengal (on the basis of actual poll performance) and Tripura (deemed continuation up to 2024 by virtue of Para 6C). It will also be recognised as a state party in Meghalaya henceforth on the basis of the GELA of Meghalaya in 2023,” the ECI added.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has achieved the status of a National Party by meeting the requirements of Para 6B(iii), which mandates recognition as a state party in at least four states based on electoral performance.

The party has fulfilled this condition by gaining recognition as a state party in four states, namely Delhi, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat.