Battle over AAP's jhadu reaches court

The tussle over jhadu, the election symbol of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has reached the court.

The Allahabad high court on Thursday issued notice to the AAP and the Election Commission on a petition filed by Naitik Party, a little known outfit, claiming its right over the symbol. The court has given three weeks time to the AAP and EC to file their replies.

Naitik Party, a relatively unknown and new political outfit from Uttar Pradesh has laid its claim on the ‘broom’ as its election symbol claiming that it had contested the 2012 assembly polls in UP with the same symbol.

Naitik Party, which also claims that it is fighting for a corruption free India, has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking allotment of ‘broom’ as its election symbol for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls next year.

“AAP contested the Delhi assembly polls this year on broom symbol but we had contested the 2012 assembly polls in UP on the same symbol...our party had been registered in 2010”, said Naitik Party president Chandra Bhushan Pandey, a former judge.

“We had been allotted the symbol broom by the Election Commission in 2012 UP assembly polls..it was a one time symbol under rule 10 (B)...now the rules have been modified but the EC has said that those who had applied under the old rules can again apply under the modified rules...so we have applied for the same symbol”, Pandey told Deccan Herald. 

“Off course...AAP can have the symbol as far as Delhi is concerned...we can not claim it there but in rest of the country, broom will be ours”, he went on to add.

Pandey said that his party planned to field its candidates in the forthcoming general elections all over the country. “We will contest all the seats in UP and put up our nominees at some seats in the other states as well”, he said.