CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) reserved the final orders in a petition preferred to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to allot the lotus symbol to the BJP for the elections.
Petitioner T Ramesh, president of the Ahimsa Socialist Party from Namakkal, moved to MHC seeking to direct the election commission to cancel the allotment of the lotus symbol to the BJP.
The case was listed before the first division bench, comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.
The petitioner stated that the allotment of the lotus symbol, the national flower of the nation, to a political party (BJP) is unjust and contended that allotting the lotus symbol to a political party is a disgrace to national integrity.
Further, he stated that his representation before the election commission to cancel the allotment of the lotus symbol to the BJP is not considered, which is against the principle of natural justice.
The petitioner also filed an additional petition in support, stating that the Lotus is a religious flower for Hindus, hence the symbol should not be allocated to the BJP.
After the submission, the bench reserved the final orders without mentioning any date.