The Election Commission on Wednesday invited Trinamool Congress chairperson and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee for separate meetings on Saturday regarding their dispute over control of the party.

In letters issued to the two leaders on Wednesday evening, the EC asked both of them to attend the meetings at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in Dwarka on Saturday, along with a delegation of five members each. The EC asked Ritabrata to meet it at 11am, while Mamata was given the time of 12pm. EC sources say the letters were issued after the matter was discussed by the Commission at a meeting on Wednesday.

The EC’s decision to meet both sides comes two days after it announced by-polls in five Assembly constituencies in the country, including Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal. The split in the TMC is likely to come up when the party fields candidates for the October 6 by-polls, leading to dispute over which side would get the use of the party’s symbol.

It is learnt that the Commission is yet to register a dispute case under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which is the only way for it to decide which side gets control of the party’s name and symbol.

The split in the party began to emerge after the TMC lost the West Bengal Assembly elections in May this year. The group of MLAs led by Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee claimed they were the “real TMC” as they had support of two-thirds of the legislators. The Ritabrata faction had met the Commission in Delhi on July 1 to stake claim to the party. The EC then asked both sides to submit their responses. In her response, Mamata had rejected the other side’s claim of control over the party, arguing that the appointments to the party organisation made by them in June were not valid as the terms of the existing committees of the TMC was until 2027.