PWP fears losing ‘cart’ symbol, seeks protection from HC

MUMBAI: The Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) has approached the Bombay high court for protection against losing its election symbol, a cart, after faring poorly in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, where it won just one seat.

The petition stated that the party had applied to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the allotment of a common election symbol in September 2024. However, the ECI rejected the demand as the PWP was applying for the symbol for the third time despite polling less than 1% of the valid votes in the 2019 general elections.

According to the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968, a registered unrecognised party can be allotted a common symbol at any two elections. After availing this facility twice, the party can apply for the symbol a third time only if it gets a minimum of 1% of the valid votes in the previous election.

In its petition, the PWP said it had secured 0.97% of the valid votes in the 2019 general elections, adding that the ECI should have rounded the figure to 1%.

On two prior occasions, a vacation bench and a regular bench of the high court had refused to grant relief to the PWP. However, the party saw a silver lining in its dismal performance in the 2024 assembly elections. Sangola, a constituency in Solapur, saw Dr Babasaheb Annasaheb Deshmukh from PWP emerge victorious with 116,256 votes. The party now plans to add the data from the assembly elections to the petition via an amendment, giving it a second life.