Over 600 “Trinamul Congress” candidates across Bengal filed their nominations for the rural polls till Saturday although the ruling party is yet to allot symbols.

Sources said most of those who filed their nomination papers are the current incumbents of various rural bodies and have decided to contest as Independents if denied party tickets.

“Although the number is not large, compared to total 74,000-odd rural body seats, all those who filed their nomination papers violated the party whip on filing nominations. The development is certainly worrisome, as it suggests that a lot of more candidates would try to contest as Independents after being denied candidature,” said a senior Trinamul leader.

The development is significant for Trinamul, as senior leaders like its national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee repeatedly warned rural leaders against contesting as Independents, as the party would not take them back even if they win elections.

“If anyone thinks they would again get the party’s affliction after winning the election as Independents, they are wrong. We would not take them back, and they have to continue as Independents for their next phases of their political career,” Abhishek said at a recent rally during his ongoing outreach drive.

Hooghly and North 24-Parganas are two districts from where a large number of candidates filed their nomination papers. In North 24-Parganas, 133 candidates filed nominations as Trinamul candidates, while there were 227 such candidates in Hooghly.

According to norms, a particular candidate has to mention the name of a political party during the filing of forms. A candidate gets the official symbol of the party, if its leadership issues a ticket against their name. If the ticket is not issued, the candidate would be converted into an Independent during scrutiny.

Trinamul has decided to send symbols to candidates directly from Calcutta in a bid to curb the control of local leaders over ticket distribution.

Trinamul insiders said they also wanted the candidates for the rural polls to file nominations during the last three days of the process, because there are indications that a large number of aspirants might turn rebels and file nominations as Independents.

“I did not get a party ticket, but filed nomination papers on Saturday following the direction of the deputy chief of my gram panchayat,” said Moyna Mondal, a current member of Trinamul-run Kodalia I gram panchayat in Hooghly.

Debasish Chakraborty, the deputy chief of the panchayat, said the papers were filed according to instructions from a senior leader in the district.

“If those who filed their nomination papers do not get a party ticket, they will withdraw their papers. So, there is nothing wrong with this,” he said.

However, when asked about the possibility of dissident Independents, Chakraborty said: “It completely depends on the particular nominee.”

However, a Trinamul leader in Hooghly’s Arambagh said that all those who filed their papers might not withdraw their nominations. “The senior leaders have sent names of two or three candidates in various rural body seats in our areas. So, we did not take the risk of waiting. If we are not given tickets, we would continue as Independents,” said the leader, on the condition of anonymity.

Trinamul leaders claimed those who filed their nomination as Trinamul nominees would withdraw nominations.

“Those who have filed their nomination are not a problem for us. We expect most of them to withdraw their nominations if they do not get official tickets,” said Trinamul state general-secretary Kunal Ghosh.