Will consider Bhim Army Chief's application for common election symbol: EC

The Election Commission on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that it would consider Chandrashekhar Azad's application for allotment of a common symbol for his political party Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) in the upcoming assembly elections across five states.

The counsel for the Election Commission informed Justice Prateek Jalan that applications for the allotment of symbols are now open for consideration for four states, including Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur. The process for Uttar Pradesh will start on November 14.

The judge, who was hearing the Bhim Army Chief's plea for allotment of a common election symbol, disposed of the petition, observing that the petitioner's application may be considered by the commission in terms of the Symbols Order and other applicable laws.

There is a separate process of allotment of symbols for each assembly election. Therefore, while the request for a common symbol by the petitioner for his "unrecognised, registered party" could be considered in accordance with the law, there cannot be any entitlement to seek one, said Lawyer Sidhant Kumar appearing for the EC.

"He has to meet the eligibility criteria for each state, and allotment of symbols depends on the preference (of symbols) given by the applicant," he said.

The application for allotment has to be made in the prescribed format, and the earlier communication made by the petitioner for the allotment of a common symbol was premature, he added.

MS Arya, the petitioner's counsel, said that an application will be preferred in terms of the notice issued by the commission for the allotment of symbols.

Since his party was going to contest in the upcoming assembly elections and continuously organising rallies, the general public wanted to know the common election symbol, said Azad. The petition claimed that Azad was suffering irreparable losses due to the absence of a common election symbol.