Stories
Calcutta High Court Slams ECI Over Symbol Allocation: "Why Choose Envelope When 183 Symbols Available?"
- •Calcutta High Court questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) for allocating the Indian Secular Front's (ISF) 'envelope' symbol to a Trinamool Congress faction for West Bengal by-elections.
- •The court criticized the ECI, asking why the 'envelope' symbol was chosen when 183 other symbols were available, stating such decisions force parties to court.
- •ISF argued that giving its previously used symbol to another party in the same election creates voter confusion and suggested freezing the 'envelope' symbol.
- •The ECI stated the 'envelope' was a free symbol and allotted to ISF in 2021, used in 2024 and 2026 elections, but the court questioned the choice given the controversy.
- •The court emphasized that symbols previously used by a party contesting the same election should be safeguarded to avoid disputes and voter confusion.
Key Questions Answered
The Calcutta High Court questioned the Election Commission for allocating the Indian Secular Front's (ISF) previously used 'envelope' symbol to the Ritabrata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress when 183 other symbols were available. The court noted that such decisions during an ongoing election create voter confusion and force political parties to approach the courts.
The ISF suggested that the Election Commission should freeze the 'envelope' symbol for all political parties for the time being, and instead provide alternative symbols to the contesting parties to avoid voter confusion.
The Election Commission stated that the 'envelope' symbol was officially allotted to the ISF in 2021, and the party subsequently contested the 2024 and 2026 elections with it. The commission also maintained that the 'envelope' was listed as a free symbol, though it disagreed with ISF's lawyer by claiming the petitioners themselves chose it.
