Telangana polls: TJS to contest with Cong symbol? What the laws state

Hyderabad, Nov 10: The Telangana Jana Samithi candidates are likely to contest the Telangana elections under the Congress symbol-the hand. The TJS candidates are unlikely to contest under their party symbol, which is a matchbox.

Leaders of both the TJS and Congress met with the Central Election Commission officials in New Delhi and sought an opinion to this effect. They wanted to discuss the legal issues behind this.

They sought to know if the candidates would be treated as TJS or Congress legislators, if they won. The EC officials told them that this would be decided by the speaker of the legislative assembly.

The Congress is understood to have advised the TJS candidates to contest on the hand symbol as people were more familiar with it. The symbol is known to all when compared to the symbol of the TJS, the Congress leaders also said.

While the TJS is yet to take a decision in this regard, the Congress continues to insist that the candidates use its symbol in the forthcoming elections. In the event of these candidates winning on the hand symbol, they would not attract the anti-defection law in so far as quitting the alliance is concerned. This is however subject to the Speaker recognising them as a separate group.

It may be recalled that in the 1983 elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Sanjay Vichar Manch contested 5 seats under the symbol of the TDP. Following the elections they were considered as a separate group in the assembly.

Officials say that if any political party in a pre-poll alliance wants to contest with another party's symbol, the election commission will allot a common symbol. The candidates however in the B-form would have to mention which party they belong to.