The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to issue a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider a plea to cancel the Lotus symbol allotted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on grounds that it was both a national flower and a religious symbol.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy dismissed a writ petition filed by ‘Gandhiyawathi’ T. Ramesh, president of the Ahimsa Socialist Party, seeking a direction to consider a representation made by him on September 22, 2023.
After dismissing the case, the judges recorded the submission that the litigant was willing to donate ₹10,000 out of ₹20,000 he had already deposited in the court to prove his bonafide intention behind filing the writ petition. The donation would go to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority.
In an affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, through his counsel M.L. Ravi, the petitioner had stated that BJP was a registered as well as recognised national party under class 6 & 6A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment of Symbols) Order, 1968. It had been allotted the lotus as a permanent symbol.
However, while doing so, the ECI had failed to take into consideration that lotus (Nelumbo Nucifera) was a national flower and also a State flower in Karnataka and Haryana, the petitioner claimed. He said, even in the national emblem, the four lions were mounted on an abacus which in turn was mounted on a lotus.
The petitioner further said, the lotus was considered auspicious and sacred due to its references in ancient mythology. It played a Centra role in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Hindu deities Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Ganesha, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati were portrayed on a lotus in iconography. Hindu religious texts describe Lord Vishnu as Pundarikaksha meaning ‘The Lotus-eyed one,’ and the Vedic literature had numerous analogies with reference to the qualities of the lotus. Similarly, the Bahai-i-Faith community had chosen to construct a temple in the shape of a lotus in New Delhi, he said.
Stating that the BJP had close organisational links with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the petitioner claimed that the allotment of the Lotus symbol to it was in violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005.
He also said that Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 prohibits the use of religious symbols to seek votes. Contending that the use of a religious symbol in elections must be considered as a corrupt practice under the election laws, he said, the concept of free and fair election had been diluted by allotting the Lotus symbol to the BJP.
