Stories
Calcutta HC Questions EC Over ISF Symbol Reassignment, Cites Possible "Connivance"
- •The Calcutta High Court questioned the Election Commission's reassignment of the 'envelope' symbol from ISF to Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC), citing potential "connivance" between the EC and the newly formed outfit.
- •Justice Krishna Rao asked why the EC did not consider ISF's application for the 'envelope' symbol, which was submitted before the reassignment.
- •The EC counsel argued that symbol allotment is within the commission's discretion and that it acted lawfully in allotting 'envelope' to DTC and 'almirah' to ISF.
- •Petitioner's counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya contended that discretion must be exercised reasonably and not arbitrarily, questioning the legality of taking away the 'envelope' symbol from ISF for the by-election.
- •The court reserved its order after hearing arguments on whether it could interfere with the ongoing election process and the EC's symbol allotment procedures for bypolls.
Key Questions Answered
The Calcutta High Court questioned whether there was any connivance between the poll body and the newly formed Democratic Trinamool Congress after the Election Commission reassigned the 'envelope' symbol to them instead of considering the ISF's pending application. Justice Krishna Rao observed that authorities should act fairly and that any rejection of an application must be reasoned.
Bypolls to the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies in West Bengal are scheduled to be held on October 6, with counting taking place on October 9. The ISF is contesting from the Nandigram constituency in these by-elections.
Following the Election Commission's decision to reassign the 'envelope' symbol to the Democratic Trinamool Congress, the ISF was allotted the 'almirah' symbol for the upcoming bypolls. The ISF had previously contested the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2026 Assembly elections using the 'envelope' symbol.
