Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that her faction would support the Congress in the upcoming Nandigram Assembly bypoll and in Assam, hours after her party’s candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination from the seat.
Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who had been named the Mamata faction’s candidate for Nandigram earlier this month, withdrew her nomination on Friday. The development came on the same day that the Election Commission assigned new names and symbols to the two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress. The Mamata Banerjee-led group was allotted the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the Football Player symbol, while the rival faction led by Arup Roy was given the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the Envelope symbol. The original party name and its traditional symbol were frozen for the upcoming bypolls. The Election Commission’s interim decision followed a dispute between the two rival factions over the party’s identity and election symbol. The Mamata-led faction has now been allotted the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, while the rival group has been named Democratic Trinamool Congress. Both have been recognised as political parties in West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. The Rejinagar seat became vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party founder Humayun Kabir.
Because the party had decided to back Congress, Banerjee said that was not the reason, asked whether Pradhan withdrew. The withdrawal leaves the Mamata faction without a candidate in the constituency ahead of the October 6 bypoll. The Nandigram seat fell vacant after Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the 2026 Assembly election, chose to retain Bhabanipur.
Banerjee also said her party would support Congress in the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election in Assam, adding that the Mamata faction would not contest there. Reacting to the Election Commission’s decision on the party’s name and symbol, Banerjee said she would continue with the organisation she had built.
