- Nationalist Congress Party- Sharad Pawar has filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking to prevent the Ajit Pawar faction from using the ‘clock’ symbol in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
- The issue stems from a split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2023.
- In past instances, symbols have been frozen before the resolution, as seen with AIADMK in 1989 and 2017 and Shiv Sena in 2022.
- Symbols Allotment Process:
- Political party symbols are allotted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, of 1968.
- National or state-recognized parties have reserved symbols, crucial for voter recognition, especially in a country with a significant illiterate population.
- NCP is recognized as a state party in Maharashtra and Nagaland.
- In the case of a party split, the ECI determines which faction retains the reserved symbol.
- The ECI in February, recognized the Ajit Pawar faction as the real NCP and allocated it the ‘clock’ symbol based its decision on the legislative majority, while the Sharad Pawar faction (NCP-SP) was given a temporary symbol.
- The Supreme Court’s Sadiq Ali vs. ECI (1971) case laid down a 3-test formula:
- Aims and objectives of the party
- Inner-party democracy
- Legislative majority
- The NCP-SP has also challenged the ECI’s recognition of the Ajit Pawar faction in the Supreme Court, which may lead to freezing the ‘clock’ symbol for the upcoming assembly elections.
Dig Deeper: Read about the Representation of People Act, 1951 and Election Symbol’s Order.
