The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to urgently list for hearing former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) name and party’s symbol following a dispute between two rival factions of the party.“They (EC) issue a notification and in the middle of notification… They freeze the symbol. What’s going on? We want urgent listing,” senior counsel Kapil Sibal submitted before a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana on behalf of the former chief minister.“Both sides will have something to say. When the matter is listed, then argue. We will try to list it,” the CJI told Sibal.After hearing leaders of rival TMC factions led by Banerjee and Arup Roy, EC issued an interim order on Thursday night barred both the groups from using the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ name and symbol. It said the matter required substantive determination under provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.On Friday, EC allotted separate names and symbols to the two TMC factions and reserved TMC symbol pending a substantive determination of the dispute.Banerjee has made EC and Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, as party respondents.On September 18, Banerjee attacked EC over its decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’ name and ‘Jora Ghash Phul’ symbol, likening the loss of the party’s identity to the pain of a mother losing her child and calling it a “black day” in the country’s democratic history.Rejecting the interim arrangement, Banerjee had vowed to fight till the end to reclaim the party’s original identity and its ‘flowers-and-grass’ symbol politically, democratically and legally.The poll panel allotted her faction the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol for the October 6 bypoll to Nandigram and Rejinagar.The rival faction led by Roy was allotted the name ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Envelope’ symbol.In June, 58 rebel MLAs elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly instead of the Mamata camp nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, and secured recognition from the Speaker, marking the party’s first split in its 28-year history.Later, 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar joined the little-known NCPI and wrote to Speaker Om Birla that they supported the BJP-led NDA as a “separate bloc”.The Assembly bypoll to Nandigram in East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district are scheduled for October 6, with vote counting on October 9.The bypoll in West Bengal was necessitated as CM Suvendu Adhikari won from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, and chose to vacate Nandigram, while AJUP leader Humayun Kabir won from both Naoda and Rejinagar, and decided to give up the Rejinagar seat.