JD(U) will not to be able to contest assembly polls in Jharkhand on Arrow Symbol

Ranchi: The Janta Dal (United) will not be able to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand on its symbol Arrow.

JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said that the party had asked the election commission in this regard and on the basis of the arguments given by it on August 16 the commission has given this decision.

He said that during the Lok Sabha elections the Janata Dal United had asserted before the election commission that in Bihar the JMM should not be given the symbol of bow and arrow as the symbol of their party and that of the JMM will lead to confusion among the people and had even pointed that there was no MP or MLA of the JMM in Bihar. 

On this basis the election commission had done away with the practice to keep the symbol of bow and arrow reserved for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha during the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar therefore on the same grounds the JMM on June 24th wrote a letter to the election commission that for the Assembly elections in Jharkhand the symbol of JD-U which is the arrow should not be frozen and had submitted many arguments in this regard.

The party had also pointed that the JD-U was formed in 2003 while JMM came into existence at the time of undivided Bihar in the year 1985 and was allotted the symbol of bow and arrow, the party even pointed that JD-U also does not have any MP or MLA in the state therefore if in the Assembly Election the arrow symbol of the JD-U is freezed then it would lead to a confusion among the voters and therefore on these arguments the election commission decided not to freeze the arrow symbol for the Janata Dal United to contest the Assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Welcoming the decision of the election commission Mr Bhattacharya said that the verdict has dealt a blow to the conspiracy of the BJP as it wanted that JD-U should contest in Jharkhand on its Arrow symbol and voters get confused over the symbol of both the parties and its advantage is taken by the BJP.