"Destined only for defeat": BJP's Rahul Sinha slams TMC amid symbol dispute

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 13 (ANI): BJP MP Rahul Sinha on Sunday said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party is now destined for defeat, amid the ongoing dispute over the party's name and election symbol.
Speaking to ANI, Sinha said, "Whoever contests on a TMC ticket will lose. Now, the Trinamool is destined only for defeat; there is no longer any possibility of them winning. The Election Commission will decide which faction gets the symbol. The TMC has now split into several factions. Whatever decision the Election Commission takes will prevail..."
A day earlier, a five-member delegation representing the rebel faction of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, met the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in Delhi. 
Banerjee heads a group of around 60 of the 80 newly elected TMC MLAs who distanced themselves from former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the party's defeat to the BJP in the Assembly polls held in April.
Both factions have staked claim to being the “real” Trinamool Congress and approached the Election Commission seeking recognition as the party's legitimate leadership.
Ritabrata Banerjee said he was "100 per cent optimistic" about the faction's prospects in the ongoing election symbol dispute.
Speaking to ANI, Banerjee said the discussions were "very fruitful" but declined to disclose details of the meeting.
"I cannot disclose what talks happened; it was very fruitful. They had many queries; we answered them and showed some documents. They had asked for those documents to be submitted. We will be doing that. So we are hopeful because we are the TMC," he said.
Referring to the faction's political standing in West Bengal, Banerjee said, "There is a saying now in Bengal politics: 'Na khata na bahi, jo Mamata Banerjee kahe wahi sahi'. That's how everything was going. We are hopeful." (ANI)