Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav says he will seek the Bicycle symbol to contest the Andhra Assembly polls. What do the rules say?
Samajwadi party and Telugu Desam party contending over Bi-cycle. (Supplied X)
The Samajwadi Party (SP) will be contesting to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 2024. However, it won’t be the first time that the SP would be contesting in Andhra Pradesh. It had contested in 2019 as well, but drew a blank.
But what makes the SP’s plan interesting is its election symbol, the “Bicycle”. The TDP, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, too, has the “Bicycle” as its symbol.
Established in 1992 by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the SP secured a polling percentage of above 32 percent in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. However, it fell short of the six percent across states required to be recognised as a national party.
In the united Andhra Pradesh, SP had won Gadwal, now part of Telangana, in 2004.
Last time when the party fought from eight segments in Andhra, it contested on free symbols allocated in the respective constituencies.
But Akhilesh Yadav has clarified that the SP would seek the Bicycle as its election symbol in all the 175 constituencies in the upcoming election.
“The party leadership wants to contest in all states and make its presence felt. This is backed by the strength of the Yadava community across India and in Andhra as well. Also, it has always been the two dominant castes, Kammas and Reddys, here, which made us look for an alternative.” Andhra Pradesh SP chief Pasam Venkateswarlu told South First,
“The Congress’s relative absence in the state, and all regional parties having secret ties with the BJP, provide scope for SP to be an alternative,” he added.
As far as the symbol is concerned, Venkateswarlu said, “We will request the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allocate the Bicycle. If it is not being allotted now, we will take the universal free symbol in all the constituencies, and focus on securing the Bicycle symbol in the 2029 general elections.”
The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the ECI to recognise political parties and allot symbols.
According to the order, different symbols will be allotted to candidates in the same constituency.
A reserved symbol is one exclusively reserved for a recognised political party, allotted solely to contesting candidates fielded by that party. On the other hand, a free symbol is any symbol other than a reserved symbol offered to the unreserved party and independent candidates.
So, if a political party is recognised nationally, it can use its reserved symbol anywhere in India. Meanwhile, recognised state party candidates can use their symbol exclusively across the state.
But can a reserved party in one state participate in another state using the same symbol that is already in use by a registered political party?
According to the EC order, “If a political party, recognised as a state party in one state or states, fields a candidate in a constituency in any other state or Union Territory where it is not a recognised state party, then such candidate may, to the exclusion of all other candidates in the constituency, be allotted the symbol reserved for that party in the state or states where it is a recognised state party, notwithstanding that such symbol is not specified in the list of free symbols for such other state or Union Territory.”
It means that SP can have the Bicycle symbol if it is not registered or recognised by any existing party in that state. But since the TDP has Bicycle as its symbol, the SP’s plan to contest under its symbol might not materialise.
Jul 04, 2024
Jul 03, 2024
Jul 03, 2024
Jul 03, 2024
Jul 02, 2024
Jul 01, 2024
