The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Bombay High Court on Monday that the ‘whistle’ symbol would be assigned to the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), led by Hitendra Thakur for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. This confirmation was made during a hearing of BVA’s petition by seeking the symbol for its party.
Earlier this year in January, the ECI had allocated the ‘whistle’ symbol to the Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)]. However, a BVA candidate used the symbol to run for the Palghar Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general elections as JD(U) did not field a candidate there.
On Monday, a division bench of Justices Somasekhar Sundaresan and Arif Doctor reviewed the petition. The ECI submitted a letter from JD(U) stating it would not contest in the Maharashtra assembly elections on November 20 and would release the ‘whistle’ symbol, which was initially granted by an order on January 30, 2024. With JD(U) stepping aside, BVA’s request for the symbol will be processed “by following the procedure laid down in the requisite rules/guidelines,” the ECI assured the court.
Following this submission, the court concluded the hearing and disposed of BVA’s petition.
