EXCERPTS OF THE ORDER DATED 3 JANUARY, 1975 PASSED BY THE ELECTION COMMISSION ON THE FORMATION OF THE BHARATIYA LOK DAL

Summary

This three-page document reproduces excerpts from an Election Commission of India order dated 3 January 1975 concerning two interrelated matters: a dispute among rival groups claiming the Bharatiya Kranti Dal (B.K.D.) under paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, and the proposed amalgamation of the Swatantra Party, the B.K.D., the Utkal Congress, and other groups into the Bharatiya Lok Dal under paragraph 16. The order records the parties’ submissions, the production and scrutiny of merger resolutions and elected-members’ lists, and the Commission’s treatment of recognition and election symbols as institutional questions rather than matters of party policy.

The Commission accepts that the Swatantra Party, B.K.D., and Utkal Congress had merged to form the Bharatiya Lok Dal and decides that the new party should be treated as a National Party for the purposes of the Symbols Order. It separately reserves time to decide an appropriate symbol for the Bharatiya Lok Dal, while freezing the former parties’ symbols and prohibiting similarly named organisations from registering. The order reserves the “Star” for the Swatantra Party, “Haldhar” for the B.K.D. in Uttar Pradesh, and the “Water Wheel and Plough (Halchakra)” for the Utkal Congress in Orissa.

Key points

• The order combines a dispute over rival B.K.D. groups with the proposed formation of the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
• The Commission relies on paragraph 15 and paragraph 16 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
• The Swatantra Party, B.K.D., and Utkal Congress submitted merger resolutions and lists of elected representatives supporting the amalgamation.
• The Commission recognises the Bharatiya Lok Dal as a National Party for the purposes of the Symbols Order.
• A separate decision is reserved on an appropriate election symbol for the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
• The former parties’ symbols are frozen, and similarly named political organisations are barred from registration to avoid voter confusion.
• The decision illustrates the Election Commission’s role in adjudicating party identity, recognition, amalgamation, and symbol allocation.