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Symbols Order paragraph 15: how the ECI settles party splits

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: Election Symbols Order, 1968 (ECI); Supreme Court, Subhash Desai judgment (2023); PTI via Deccan Herald and ThePrint; ETV Bharat

Why in news: Officials said on 16 October the ECI will hear rival All India Trinamool Congress factions on 30 October, after a 17 September interim order.

Symbols Order paragraph 15: how the ECI settles party splits
Illustration (AI-generated)

Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 lets the Election Commission of India decide which rival group of a recognised party is that party, and so who keeps its reserved symbol. The Order fixes no test. The Commission will hear rival All India Trinamool Congress factions on 30 October 2026.

Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Representation of the People Act; GS2 · Constitutional Bodies

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 polity: the Election Commission of India's power under the Symbols Order, 1968 and its link with the Tenth Schedule. Prelims can ask about reserved and free symbols and party recognition; Mains, about inner-party democracy and defection.

In short

Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the Election Commission of India to decide which rival group of a recognised party is that party.

A paragraph 15 disputeRival groupseach claimFreezes thereservedsymbolHears thegroupsNo fixedtestOne group,or none

Paragraph 15 serves voters only if the Commission rules quickly, on neutral organisational evidence, so that a party's symbol keeps its meaning.

Why it matters

Many voters find their candidate by symbol: it sits beside the button on the Electronic Voting Machine, and voters who cannot read rely on it alone. When a party splits, the group that wins the symbol inherits years of voter recognition, while the other must build a new identity from scratch. A long freeze hurts both sides, because voters meet unfamiliar interim symbols at every bypoll. The larger question is how far an election body should judge a party's internal affairs, and how it can stay neutral while doing so.

Prelims pointers

  • Symbols Order basis: Article 324 read with section 29A, Representation of the People Act, 1951, and rules 5 and 10, Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
  • Paragraph 16: when parties amalgamate, the Commission decides whether the new party is a National or State party and which symbol it gets.
  • Paragraph 16A: the Commission may suspend or withdraw a party's recognition for defying the Model Code of Conduct or its lawful directions.
  • Since 1997, a faction losing a paragraph 15 dispute is not recognised automatically; it must register under section 29A and qualify afresh.
  • Tenth Schedule, paragraph 4: a merger shields legislators only if at least two-thirds of the legislature party agree to it.
  • Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule, the one-third split defence, was omitted by the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003.
  • Disqualification under the Tenth Schedule does not expel a legislator from the party; expulsion is left to the party's own processes.
  • The political party, not the legislature party, appoints the Whip and the party's Leader in the House.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, consider the following statements:

1. It was issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

2. It classifies election symbols as either reserved symbols or free symbols.

3. It divides recognised political parties into National parties and State parties.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The Order is the Election Commission's own, and it sorts both symbols and recognised parties.

Statement 1: incorrect. The Election Commission of India made it under Article 324; its preamble also cites section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Statement 2: correct. A reserved symbol belongs to a recognised party; every other symbol is a free symbol.

Statement 3: correct. Recognised political parties are either National parties or State parties under the Order.

Eliminate: statement 1 credits the Order to a ministry and the wrong Act, so it is wrong. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The Order is pinned on the Law Ministry and the 1950 Act instead of the Election Commission and the 1951 Act.

Remember: Symbols Order, 1968 = made by the ECI under Article 324 + section 29A, RPA 1951.

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