The Indian Secular Front (ISF) will contest the Nandigram Assembly by-election with the “almirah” symbol after the Calcutta high court on Wednesday dismissed its challenge against the Election Commission of India’s decision to allot the “envelope” symbol to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTMC).
The order by a bench headed by Justice Krishna Rao means DTMC will use the envelope symbol in the October 6 by-election, while the ISF will have to campaign under the almirah symbol. The ECI has also scheduled the Rejinagar by-election for the same day, with counting for both seats set for October 9. Campaigning will end on October 4.
A senior lawyer present in court confirmed that the bench had dismissed the ISF petition challenging the allotment of the envelope symbol to DTMC.
Why ISF challenged the symbol allocation
The dispute arose after the ECI allotted the envelope symbol to the ISF in March this year ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. The party subsequently used the symbol during the election campaign.
For the upcoming by-elections, however, the Commission allotted the same envelope symbol to the Democratic Trinamool Congress, while assigning the almirah symbol to the ISF.
The ISF challenged the decision, arguing that the envelope had been associated with the party in earlier elections and that it was again contesting the Nandigram by-election. Reports on the proceedings said the ISF had used the symbol in the 2021 Assembly election, the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the 2026 Assembly polls.
The ECI's counsel maintained that the envelope was a free symbol and that its allotment to a registered unrecognised political party was valid only for a specific election. The Commission argued that such an allocation did not create a permanent right over the symbol and that a by-election was not a continuation of the previous Assembly election.
The poll panel also told the court that both the envelope and almirah were among free symbols available for allotment to registered unrecognised political parties.
Court had earlier questioned ECI decision
Wednesday's dismissal came days after the same bench had sharply questioned the Election Commission over its decision to reassign the envelope symbol.
During the September 24 hearing, Justice Rao pointed out that the Commission had 183 free symbols available and questioned why it had selected one that had already been allotted to the ISF only months earlier.
“Once the election started, you are creating all the trouble and the political parties are coming to the court, while putting burden upon the court. You have 183 free symbols. Why are you allotting the ‘envelope’ symbol, which was disputed?” the bench had observed.
The court had also questioned whether the authorities were acting fairly and impartially, saying that political parties should not be repeatedly forced to approach the judiciary over election-related decisions.
“Every time, for one or the other reason, you are compelling the people to come to the court. If there were 183 free symbols, why have you chosen the envelope symbol?” the bench had asked.
During a subsequent hearing, the court also sought to know the basis on which the Commission had considered the Democratic Trinamool Congress's claim to the symbol. The ECI maintained that the allotment was within its discretion, while the ISF argued that such discretion had to be exercised reasonably and rationally.
The court ultimately dismissed the ISF's challenge on Wednesday, leaving the Commission's allotment in place.
Nandigram bypoll follows Suvendu Adhikari's decision
The Nandigram by-election was necessitated after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the May Assembly elections, chose to retain the latter seat.
The ECI subsequently announced by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar for October 6. The results for both constituencies will be declared on October 9, while campaigning is scheduled to end on October 4.
The symbol dispute had added another legal complication to the Nandigram contest, with the ISF approaching the Calcutta high court after the Commission reassigned its previous symbol to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led Democratic Trinamool Congress.
With Wednesday's order, the envelope symbol will remain with DTMC for the by-election and the ISF will contest under the almirah symbol.