Decision on the party symbol – Election Commission
Recently the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided on the name and symbol of the political party.
- The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 along with Article 324 of the Constitution empowers the Election Commission to recognize political parties and allot election symbols.
- Under section 15 of this order, the Election Commission can decide the dispute between the rival groups or sections of a recognized political party regarding the claim of the name and symbol of this party.
- In the Sadiq Ali case (1971), the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Election Commission to decide the issues of dispute or merger.
The Apex Court had laid down 3 tests for arriving at such a decision:
- Examination of the aims and objectives of the constitution of the political party,
- Examination of the constitution of the political party and
- Majority test.
As per Section – 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Election Symbols Order, 1968, the Election Commission recognizes a political party and allots a symbol to it.
- Recognized National Parties: Parties can use the symbol allotted to them in all elections throughout the country. No other party can use that mark.
- State level parties: These parties can use the symbol allotted to them within the concerned state only.
- Independent candidates: They can choose those 3 symbols in the order of their preference. These are different from the symbols of national and state level parties. The Election Commission allots any one of these three symbols.
Source – Indian Express
