Swaraj India cries foul after denial of poll symbol

Swaraj India today alleged a conspiracy by the AAP government resulted in its failure to get a common symbol for the MCD elections.
After the Delhi High Court struck down its demand for identical symbols for all its candidates contesting the MCD polls, party leader Yogendra Yadav said it was "deliberately done to deny Swaraj India a level playing field".
Addressing a press conference, Yadav claimed that in March 2015, the state election commission had written to the Delhi government to modify rules to allow recognised political parties, willing to contest 10 per cent of the total seats, to have a common symbol for the polls.

"When the state election commission asked the Delhi government to treat this matter on a priority basis, the AAP government sat on it for two years.
"This was a conspiracy hatched against Swaraj India by the Delhi government and the AAP to deny it a level playing field," Yadav said.
Mounting an attack on the Delhi government, Yadav said it denied Swaraj India an opportunity of having a common symbol which had helped AAP in its maiden polls in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections.

The Election Commission allows recognised political parties to contest on a common symbol, provided they contest at least 10 per cent of total seats.

The party also claimed that state election commissions of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Kerala, Sikkim and Tripura follow the rule.
However, the same rule cannot apply to other states without amending the existing rules.
Launched in October last year, Swaraj India will make its electoral debut in the Delhi civic polls next month.
Swaraj India leader Prashant Bhushan termed the order as "unfair and the one violating equality" and said the party would challenge it in the Supreme Court.