Once poll symbol allotted, it cannot be changed: Navataram Party

Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), April 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Ravu Subrahmanyam, founder of the Navataram Party, which has been allotted the glass tumbler symbol for the Tirupati bypoll by the Election Commission, on Tuesday said once a symbol has been allotted it cannot be revoked.

"Once Form 7A has been given, there is no objection raised on the party symbol. The decision of the returning officer is final," Subrahmanyam told IANS.

However, Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leaders have objected to the allotment of the glass tumbler election symbol to Navataram Party, alleging that "it has been deliberately done to confuse voters in the forthcoming Tirupati bypoll".

Glass tumbler is the symbol associated with the JSP founded by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, which is also the local ally of the BJP in the southern state.

Jana Sena contested the 2019 general elections on this symbol and extensively publicised it as the party's identity.

However, both the BJP and Jana Sena leaders fear that the symbol now allotted to the Navataram Party may eat into the vote share of the allies, who are jointly contesting the Tirupati bypoll.

Subrahmanyam alleged that Jana Sena complained to the authorities on its letterhead that another party has been allotted the tumbler symbol without invoking the Navataram Party's name.

"Jana Sena also raised an objection that its tumbler symbol is being used in the local body polls and how can it be allotted in the Lok Sabha bypoll. But actually the bypoll notification came first while the notification for Man Mandal Parishad (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) polls came after Nilam Sawhney took over as the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner (SEC) on April 1," he said.

He said these two elections are different and cannot be linked.

Subrahmanyam highlighted that the tumbler symbol was available in the list of 'free symbols' and on top of that Navataram Party is a registered and recognised political party which was established earlier than the Jana Sena Party.

Subrahmanyam said the Navataram Party was founded on January 1, 2012 while the Jana Sena was set up just before the 2014 general elections.

According to Subrahmanyam, during the 2013 Avanigadda Assembly bypoll, Navataram Party contested on the symbol of a ceiling fan which was synonymous with the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), considering the latter party was established before that bypoll.

"By then YSRCP had even won 13 seats. Ceiling fan was available in the list of 'free symbols' and any recognised political party can use it. If a candidate belonging to that party (YSRCP) is contesting, then that symbol will be allotted to him," he said.

The Navataram Party founder asserted that once Form 7A has been finalised, which confirms candidates and their symbols, nothing can be done.

He said the Jana Sena Party initially complained over this issue to the State Election Commission while the Tirupati by-poll falls under the purview of the Election Commission (EC).

"Jana Sena Party does not have the required voting percentage and also only one Assembly seat, that's why the symbol (tumbler) has not been reserved for it," said Subrahmanyam.

Moreover, he claimed that Pawan Kalyan approached him while establishing the Jana Sena Party and said the star symbol in the Jana Sena flag originally belonged to the Navataram Party, which he later replaced with a tiger.

"First we had a six-pointed star and NTP letters in the middle of the flag. We thought it was good if the symbol goes through a popular person like Kalyan as it can appeal to the masses. We are happy with the star fluttering on their flag. But now they are feeling bad because we got the tumbler symbol for the bypoll," he said.

Akin to the symbol issue, more than a decade ago when the actor's brother Chiranjeevi had also founded the now defunct Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), already another person had established a party with that same name by then.

Later, Chiranjeevi and his emissaries approached that person for PRP's name and it was amicably settled with Chiranjeevi retaining the name which also later vanished from the political landscape after merging with the Congress in 2012.

Subrahmanyam, Navataram Party's National President, said the BJP leaders are now unnecessarily creating a ruckus even though there is a provision to allot symbols in this way.

The Tirupati bypoll is scheduled for April 17. The BJP and the Jana Sena Party are jointly contesting the bypoll with their candidate Ratna Prabha, former Karnataka Chief Secretary.

From the Navataram Party, Goda Ramesh Kumar is contesting the bypoll.

Source: IANS