‘Vote theft. Party theft’: Rahul Gandhi backs Mamata Banerjee after TMC symbol freeze

Mamata Banerjee has received support from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has slammed the Election Commission of India, alleging that the poll body and the BJP are colluding to split parties and snatch their election symbols. His allegations come a day after the Election Commission ordered a freeze on the name and election symbol of the All India Trinamool Congress, and directed the two rival factions to select new names and symbols until the dispute is resolved. The factions are being led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy.

The EC’s decision comes with barely two weeks left for the bypolls in two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal — Nandigram and Rejinagar.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday said in an X post: “First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern—BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away. When an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen, too.”

“Vote theft. Government theft. Now party theft—these have become symbols of our democratic decline. The ECI’s constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate—but instead, it’s aiding those very forces that overturn the people’s verdict. This fight isn’t just Mamata Banerjee’s. It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” Gandhi added.