Election Commission Freezes Shiv Sena Symbol

Context

Recently, the Election Commission barred the Shiv Sena factions led by former CM and current Maharashtra CM from using the party name and its election symbol.

• In an interim order the Election Commission of India (ECI) froze the well-known ‘bow and arrow’ election symbol of a political party in Maharashtra.
  
  
  

About

• Reason for doing this: In order to place both the rival groups on an even keel and to protect their rights and interests.
• To cover the purpose of the current Bye-elections and to continue till the final determination of the dispute in the matter.
• Symbols For Now: For the purposes of the current bye-elections, the two groups shall be allotted such different symbols as they may choose from the list of free symbols.

About Election Symbols

• The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the EC to recognise political parties and allot symbols. 
• Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, it can decide disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognised political party staking claim to its name and symbol.
• The legal status of Paragraph 15 : Under Paragraph 15, the EC is the only authority to decide issues on a dispute or a merger. The Supreme Court upheld its validity in Sadiq Ali and another vs. ECI in 1971.

Types of Symbols

• As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) (Amendment) Order, 2017, party symbols are either:
• Reserved: Eight national parties and 64 state parties across the country have “reserved” symbols.
• Free: The Election Commission also has a pool of nearly 200 “free” symbols that are allotted to the thousands of unrecognised regional parties that pop up before elections.

Allocation of Symbols to Political Parties

• As per the guidelines, to get a symbol allotted:
• A party/candidate has to provide a list of three symbols from the EC’s free symbols list at the time of filing nomination papers.
• Among them, one symbol is allotted to the party/candidate on a first-come-first-serve basis.
• When a recognised political party splits, the Election Commission decides on assigning the symbol.