The Hindu : Karnataka News : Janata Party to file petition for symbol

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 12, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Janata Party to file petition for symbol

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 11. The Janata Party will file a petition before the Karnataka High Court on Monday seeking the restoration of the symbol of "farmer carrying a plough" that has been "wrongfully" denied to 15 candidates contesting the Assembly elections.

The party State unit's Senior Vice-President, R. Pradeep Kumar Reddy, told presspersons that the petition would highlight the Election Commission's non-acceptance of the party's request to restore the symbol.

The Janata Party has claimed that a clerical error resulted in the symbol being denied to 17 candidates. However, the Election Commission restored the symbol to two candidates on the ground that the Returning Officers in Kolar and Vemgal Assembly constituencies had inadvertently allotted the symbol. In other words, the Election Commission had regularised the allotment of the symbol while holding that it was an error, Mr. Reddy contended.

"If the Election Commission can regularise an error of its own officials, why can't it regularise a clerical error that occurred much before the nomination papers of the candidates were filed?" Mr. Reddy asked. If the symbol was not allotted to the 15 candidates, the elections in the constituencies from where they were contesting should be cancelled and a fresh election notification issued, Mr. Reddy said.

The Janata Party is contesting in 162 constituencies under its symbol, apart from the 15 where the symbol has been denied to its candidates. If the High Court did not entertain their appeal, the 15 candidates would remain in the fray, and the party would extend its support to them and ensure their victory, Mr. Reddy said.

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