Mumbai: In a move that will help avoid confusion among leaders as well as voters, the State Election Commission (SEC) has decided to allot common symbols to political parties that have won at least 5% seats in local body elections. Until now, election symbols were distributed on a lottery basis, creating confusion, as a single political party would get different symbols in different local body polls.
The SEC has asked the interested political parties to submit applications mentioning the symbol they want along with the list of candidates who won in the last election.
A winning candidate gets a certificate from the returning officer immediately after the results are declared. A copy of these certificates from the previous election should be attached with the a party’s application for a symbol, the SEC has said. The application has to be filed three days before the date to submit nominations.
To facilitate this, a necessary amendment is being made to the Maharashtra Registration of Political Parties Act, 2009, an official communication from the SEC said. This provision is only for political parties registered with the SEC.
Meanwhile, the commission has also said that votes received by a candidate who joined a party after winning an election will not be included in the 5% requirement.
If the 5% figure in a particular local governing body is close to zero, then the political party applying for a symbol should have won at least one seat in that local body in the previous election. — PTI
