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Synopsis

A PIL has been filed before the Madras High Court challenging the allotment of our country's national flower to the Bhartiya Janata Paty (BJP) as its party symbol.

Filed by T Ramesh, president of the Ahimsa Socialist Party, Namakkal, the plea states lotus being the national flower, cannot be allotted as a symbol and such allotment is a disgrace to national integrity.

It is the petitioner case that by allotting the lotus symbol to BJP, other parties are being discriminated against and gross injustice is being meted out to them.

This discrimination can be rectified by cancelling the allotment of the symbol, Ramesh states in his petition.

Two days back, the petition was mentioned before the vacation bench of Justices D Bharatha Chakravarthy and V Lakshminaryanan and an urgent hearing was sought.

This request was declined by the bench.

In a similar petition filed last year, the Allahabad High Court had rejected said PIL plea challenging the grant of 'National Party' status to Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress by the Election Commission of India in 1989.

The petitioner, Sheshmani Nath Tripathi (a member of the Samajwadi Party) had also questioned the reservation of “Lotus” and “Hand” electoral symbols for both political parties stating that ECI lacks the authority to issue such an order under the Representation of the People Act.

Two Election Commission orders, dated September 19 and 23, 1989, were challenged in the petition. As a result of these two orders, BJP and Indian National Congress were accorded the status of national parties, and their electoral symbols were reserved.