Symbols to Political Parties
Election Symbol: The Root of the Issue:
- A political party is awarded an electoral emblem, commonly referred to as an election symbol.
- They were created to make voting easier for people who are illiterate or unable to read the names of the parties.
- It was suggested in the 1960s that the Symbol Order, an act of Parliament, handle the regulation, reservation, and distribution of electoral symbols.
- The Elections Commission of India (ECI) responded to this claim by announcing that the provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 would control both the recognition of political parties and the allocation of symbols.
- Based on their performance in polls, the Election Commission recognises political parties as national or state parties and registers them for electoral purposes. To put it simply, the remaining parties are classified as “registered but unrecognised parties.”
- Their acceptance establishes their eligibility for a variety of advantages, such as the right to use party emblems, airtime allotted for political broadcasts on radio and television, and inclusion on voter lists.
- Each national party and each state party is granted a unique symbol for usage both nationally and among the states, respectively.
What methods are permitted legally:
- The ECI has the authority to recognise political parties and assign them symbols under the Election Emblems (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. According to Paragraph 15 of the Order, ECI has the authority to resolve conflicts between opposing parties or groups who are fighting over the right to use a recognised political party’s name and insignia.
What is said in the 1968 Order’s paragraph 15?
- In conflicts involving recognised national and state parties, apply this clause. In the event of a split, the ECI is the only body with the competence to resolve disputes over claims to the Party symbol. Even the Supreme Court accepted its constitutionality in the Sadiq Ali and others v. ECI case (1971). However, the ECI typically urges the opposing factions to resolve their disagreements privately or to pursue a lawsuit when registered but unrecognised parties break apart.
What factors are taken into account by the ECI before designating one organisation as the official party?
- The ECI primarily determines a claimant’s level of support inside a political party in its:
- Wings for government regulation.
How does the ECI prove it has a majority stake in these wings?
- The Commission looks over the party’s charter and the list of office holders that was provided when the party was originally organised.
- It determines how many executives, members, or delegates will support the competing claimants as well as which of the organization’s highest committees will do so.
- The legislative wing strategy of the party is based on the proportion of MPs and MLAs in the opposing camps. When assessing where these members stand, it might take into account the affidavits they’ve provided.
Along with using the majority test:
- When there was disagreement about the list of office holders, the EC resorted to testing the majority exclusively among elected MPs and MLAs in order to gauge the strength of opposing parties based on support within the party Organization.
After a resounding victory, the ECI ruled:
- If a faction can show that it has enough support from its organisational and legislative wings to be granted permission to use the name and emblem of the recognised party, the ECI may rule in that faction’s favour in a dispute.
What factors does ECI take into account in this case?
- The ECI is largely responsible for determining whether a claimant has the backing of a political party’s legislative and organisational wings.
- The panel looks at the organisational wing of the party first to determine how many office holders, members, or delegates support the competing claimants.
- If ECI is unable to gauge the level of any faction’s support based on support within the party structure, it assesses support from the party’s elected MPs and MLAs.
- The ECI takes into account the majority of affidavits members provide in support of the legislative wing.
- A symbol is selected based on the support of the majority.
- To date, a definite majority of office holders/party delegates, MPs, and MLAs have backed one of the factions in nearly every issue that the EC has settled.
- The opposing group could be able to launch its own political party as a result.
