{"id":364853,"date":"2026-06-10T15:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=364853"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:05:44","slug":"allotment-of-election-symbols-to-political-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/allotment-of-election-symbols-to-political-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"Allotment of Election Symbols to Political Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong>\u00a0The proposed Cockroach Janta Party raised questions about whether a cockroach can be allotted as an election symbol.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\"><strong>About Allotment of Election Symbols to Political Parties<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_364857\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-364857\" style=\"width: 434px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-364857\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=434%2C207&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Allotment of Election Symbols to Political Parties\" width=\"434\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=300%2C143&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C488&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=768%2C366&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=1536%2C731&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?resize=1568%2C747&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Source-TH-1-1.jpg?w=1699&amp;ssl=1 1699w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-364857\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; TH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Governed by:<\/strong> The <strong>Election Commission of India allots election symbols<\/strong> to political parties and candidates <strong>under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Legal and Administrative Framework:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reserved Symbols:<\/strong> <strong>Recognized national and state parties<\/strong> are allotted reserved symbols that are <strong>exclusive to them.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Free Symbols:<\/strong> <strong>Registered unrecognized parties and independent candidates are allotted symbols<\/strong> from the list of free symbols.\n<ul>\n<li>The Election Commission <strong>periodically revises this list<\/strong>, which currently includes a <strong>wide range of objects, fruits, vegetables, household items, and equipment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Restrictions on Animal Symbols: <\/strong>Following representations from animal welfare <strong>activists in the 1990s, the Election Commission stopped allotting animals as election symbols.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Exceptions<\/strong>: Parties that received <strong>animal symbols before the ban continue to retain them<\/strong>, such as the <strong>Bahujan Samaj Party\u2019s elephant<\/strong> and the <strong>All India Forward Bloc\u2019s lion symbol in West Bengal<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State-Specific Availability:<\/strong> Some <strong>free symbols<\/strong> are available in certain states and Union Territories only because the same symbols may already be reserved for recognized parties elsewhere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Allotment Rules for Unrecognized Parties (RUPPs):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Common Symbol Concession: <\/strong>Under<strong> Rule 10B <\/strong>of the <strong>Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968<\/strong>, <strong>registered<\/strong> <strong>unrecognized<\/strong> political parties can obtain a <strong>common symbol for two general elections.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Retention Criteria (2026 Amendment):<\/strong> A party can <strong>retain a common symbol if it secures at least 1% of valid votes in either of the last two elections<\/strong>, making performance in one election sufficient.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>First-Come-First-Served Basis:<\/strong> Common symbols are allotted on a first-come-first-served basis among eligible parties.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Electoral Requirement<\/strong>: Registered unrecognized parties become eligible for a<strong> common symbol in<\/strong> subsequent elections if they<strong> secure at least 1% of votes polled in the state <\/strong>in the previous election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resolution of Party Splits and Disputes:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Election Commission of India&#8217;s Authority:<\/strong> Under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order<strong>, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is the sole authority<\/strong> to <strong>decide disputes involving recognized political parties.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Basis of Decision:<\/strong> The Commission <strong>considers support within the party\u2019s organisational wing<\/strong> and <strong>legislative wing,<\/strong> including MPs and MLAs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Symbol and Name Allocation:<\/strong> The Commission may award the party name and symbol to one faction and allow the other faction to register separately.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Freezing of Symbol<\/strong>: If rival claims remain inconclusive, the <strong>Commission may freeze the symbol<\/strong> and require both groups to adopt new names and symbols.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News:\u00a0The proposed Cockroach Janta Party raised questions about whether a cockroach can be allotted as an election symbol. About Allotment of Election Symbols to Political Parties Governed by: The Election Commission of India allots election symbols to political parties and candidates under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. Legal and Administrative Framework: Reserved&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/allotment-of-election-symbols-to-political-parties\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Allotment of Election Symbols to Political Parties<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-364853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}