Justice B. Krishna Mohan of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition that challenged the allotment of ‘glass tumbler’ as the election symbol to the Jana Sena Party (JSP).
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The petition was filed by Rashtriya Praja Congress (Secular) Party president Meda Srinivas, who is based in Rajamahendravaram.
He had raised an objection to the allotment of ‘glass tumbler’ by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a common symbol to JSP for contesting in all the 175 Assembly constituencies, saying that its decision was in violation of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968.
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The petitioner’s argument was that he submitted an application (for allotment of glass tumbler as election symbol to his party) to the ECI dated December 20, 2023, but it was not considered under 10-B of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
On the other hand, the JSP’s application dated December 12, 2023, was not in compliance with the above order, the petitioner argued.
The advocate for JSP maintained that the symbol ought to be given to it (JSP) on a first come, first served basis, and that its application was not in violation of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
Justice Krishna Mohan noted in his order that the petitioner failed to demonstrate how the JSP is not entitled to be allotted a common symbol under the impugned proceedings of the ECI, therefore, it was not liable to be interfered with.
Moreover, the applications of the petitioner were neither in proper format nor accompanied by necessary documents.