A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to prevent the practice of members of one political party contesting elections on symbols reserved for another party.
Follow | Parliamentary Elections 2026 Update
ML Ravi, president of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi, filed the application through his counsel AP Suryaprakasam. The petitioner complained that it has become common practice for political parties to openly declare that their candidates will contest in reserved symbols of other parties.
He said the allotment of symbols to political parties is governed by the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Ordinance, 1968 issued by the ECI in exercise of powers vested in it under Article 324 of the Constitution read with Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
As per the provisions of the 1968 Ordinance, every candidate aspiring to contest in a particular reserved symbol must produce Forms A and B issued by the President/General Secretary/Authorised Signatory of the political party to whom that symbol has been allotted before the Returning Officer.
The purpose of submitting these forms was to make a declaration that the candidate in question is indeed a member of the political party to which the reserved symbol has been assigned and that he has been officially sponsored by the party, thus entitling him to participate in the reserved symbol.
However, many political parties in the state make a mockery of the legal requirements and enter into alliances with other parties and publicly declare that their candidates will contest in the reserved election symbols of their alliance partners and those symbols will be allotted to them by distortion, the petitioner said.
“Returning officers and voters alike are misled as to the true political affiliation of the candidates. After the declaration of election results, such candidates serve in the legislature as members of their original political party rather than as members of the party under whose symbol they ran… This practice amounts to misrepresentation and deception of voters,” his affidavit reads.
The petitioner stated that he had made a representation to the ECI on 12 March 2026 in this regard and requested the commission to consider his request and frame suitable guidelines or regulatory measures to prevent misuse of reserved symbols.
The petitioner also sought an interim direction to the Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu to issue a circular to the Returning Officers to ensure that Form B for allotment of reserved symbols could be filed only by candidates who were bona fide members of a political party.
Published – 29 March 2026 05:30 IST
