The Supreme Court on Friday asked a petitioner who wants to replace political party symbols from electronic voting machines with the names and details of candidates to serve a copy of his petition to the Attorney General of India.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde did not issue formal notice on the plea by petitioner, advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, at the present stage.
“How does a party symbol on an EVM cause prejudice?” Chief Justice Bobde asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, for Mr. Upadhyay.
“The voters will cast their vote on the basis of the intrinsic value of the candidate and not by the popularity of the political party fielding him,” Mr. Singh replied.
Mr. Singh said the petitioner had earlier written to the Election Commission but did not receive any reply.
“It will help electors to vote and support intelligent diligent and honest candidates, which is not possible in today’s scenario. It will not only weed out casteism and communalism from our democracy but also control use of black money and benami transaction in election. Ballot and EVM without political party symbol will control dictatorship of political party bosses in ticket distribution and forced them to give ticket to those who religiously work for people’s welfare,” Mr. Upadhyay’s petition said.
