After the meeting, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee described the hearing as “fruitful” without elaborating on details. (File Photo)The Election Commission on Saturday met both factions of the TMC and sought more documents from the rebel Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction as the fight for the party’s organisational control and claim to its name and symbol intensified.The Mamata Banerjee-led faction was represented by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and four others, while Ritabrata himself represented his faction before the Election Commission of India.The EC hearing is significant as it comes ahead of the October 6 Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly bypolls, for which filing of nomination papers ends on September 16.Also Read | Trinamool factions led by Ritabrata, Mamata get poll panel invite for Delhi meetAfter the meeting, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee described the hearing as “fruitful” without elaborating on details. “They (ECI) had many queries. We answered them and showed some documents. They asked us to submit those documents. We will be doing that,” he said.He said the faction was hopeful of being recognised as the TMC. On the bypoll in Nandigram, Banerjee said: “Mamata Banerjee has never won any direct Assembly election. She is very comfortable with by-elections … in 2021, it was again a by-election because she got defeated in Nandigram … We want Mamata Banerjee to be a part of the Assembly … we have decided our candidate. Even after the announcement, if Mamata Banerjee expresses a desire to fight as an independent candidate, we will withdraw our candidate in her support.”In a statement after the meeting, the Mamata faction said its delegation “made it very clear that there is no dispute”. “There is the Mamata Banerjee-led party on one side and a bunch of traitors on the other. These are the same MLAs who fought the election on a TMC ticket five months ago. The TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee signed the party symbol under which they fought elections. All these MLAs received Rs 25 lakh in their bank accounts from the party to contest elections,” read the statement.It said the five-member delegation, also comprising MPs Sagarika Ghose and Kalyan Banerjee, “established that internal elections have been held every five years to elect the chairperson and subsequently the national working committee — in 2006, 2011, 2017 and 2022”. “This clearly establishes that the TMC chairperson and national working committee have a five-year term,” the statement said.Story continues below this adAfter the meeting, Kalyan Banerjee said: “We have made our submissions. There were some queries, and we have answered them. One question was regarding whether an interim order can be passed or not, which we opposed. Whatever order is passed, we will look into it and decide on the further course of action.”