ECI assures HC to allot ‘whistle’ as symbol for BVA candidates
The ECI assured the Bombay HC that the 'whistle' symbol will be allotted to Bahujan Vikas Aghadi candidates in Maharashtra assembly polls.
MUMBAI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday assured the Bombay high court that ‘whistle’ symbol would be allotted to candidates of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls.
This assurance came in response to a petition filed by BVA, following the decision of Janta Dal (United) to withdraw from the elections and surrender the ‘whistle’ symbol.
ECI had allotted the whistle symbol to JD(U) earlier this year in January. BVA, represented by advocate Rajesh Datar, had applied for ‘whistle’ as symbol for its candidates for the assembly elections. During the proceedings, advocate Akshay Shinde, appearing for the ECI, stated that the symbol would be allotted to BVA following the procedures set out in the relevant rules and guidelines. The court, presided over by justices Arif S Doctor and Somasekhar Sundaresan, disposed of the petition on these terms. The court also clarified that the legal rights and contentions of all parties involved would remain open, allowing either side to raise further legal issues in the future if necessary.
Advocate Datar requested an oral intimation of the court’s order to the ECI, given that the deadline for nomination withdrawals was imminent and advocate Shinde assured the court that he would promptly inform the ECI of the decision.
BVA, founded in 2009 and led by Hitendra Thakur, was originally known as Vasai Vikas Aghadi and has been using the whistle symbol in 2009, 2014 and 2019 assembly elections. Its party workers are known to blow shrill whistles during poll campaigning. During 2019 Assembly polls, the State Election Commission had banned BVA workers from blowing whistles.