Kolkata, Sept. 30 -- The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday held that the All India Secular Front (ISF) cannot claim the "Envelope" election symbol for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, as its earlier allotment was limited to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election and did not continue thereafter.
Justice Krishna Rao dismissed the ISF's writ petition seeking allotment of the symbol. The court noted that the Election Commission had allotted "Envelope" to the party on March 10, 2026, for the Assembly election, but the order specifically stated that its use would not be allowed after completion of that election.
The ISF had also used the symbol in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. It argued that it had continued its Nandigram campaign on the basis of the earlier allotment and that giving the same symbol to another party could confuse voters.
The court, however, found that the provision governing concession of a common symbol to a registered unrecognised party applies to general elections and does not cover bye-elections. It also noted that the ISF had not disclosed any application seeking "Envelope" for the present bypoll before September 18.
The court recorded that, following the dispute over the All India Trinamool Congress name and symbol, the ECI allotted "Envelope" to Democratic Trinamool Congress and "Football Player" to Mamata All India Trinamool Congress.
It held that the earlier allotment was conditional and had ended with the May election, leaving the ISF with no right to claim the symbol for the bypoll.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.