The Madras High Court on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 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.
In an affidavit filed through his counsel M.L. Ravi, the petitioner had stated that BJP was a registered and 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 the 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 are mounted on an abacus which in turn is 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 has 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 has 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, Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 prohibits the use of religious symbols to seek votes.
Further, contending that the secular nature of the country must be maintained, the petitioner said, 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.
