Current Affairs

CLOCK’ SYMBOL

TAG: GS-2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

THE CONTEXT: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to restrain the use of the ‘clock’ election symbol in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

EXPLANATION:

A party is recognised as a ‘national’ or ‘state’ party under the provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The criteria for recognition at the State level consists of:
- Winning one Lok Sabha seat for every 25 seats or 3% of Legislative Assembly seats or
- Winning one Lok Sabha or two Assembly seats along with 6% of votes polled or
- Securing 8% of votes polled in a general election.
Symbols are allotted to political parties and contesting candidates as per the provisions of the Symbols Order by ECI.
A recognized political party has a reserved symbol that is not allotted to any other candidate in any constituency.
For registered but unrecognized political parties, one of the free symbols is allotted as a common symbol during an election if that party contests in two Lok Sabha constituencies or in 5% of seats to the Assembly of a State as the case may be.

Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968:

Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, EC can decide disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognised political party staking claim to its name and symbol.
- The EC is the only authority to decide issues on a dispute or a merger under the order. The Supreme Court (SC) upheld its validity in Sadiq Ali and another vs. ECI in 1971.
This applies to disputes in recognised national and state parties.
For splits in registered but unrecognised parties, the EC usually advises the warring factions to resolve their differences internally or to approach the court.
In almost all disputes decided by the EC so far, a clear majority of party delegates/office bearers, MPs and MLAs have supported one of the factions.
Before 1968, the EC issued notifications and executive orders under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
The splinter group of the party – other than the group that got the party symbol – had to register itself as a separate party.
- They could lay claim to national or state party status only on the basis of its performance in state or central elections after registration.