Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, August 4: On a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a directive to opposition political parties to forbid the use of the acronym I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) for their political alliance, the Delhi High Court on Friday sent notice to the Centre, the Election Commission of India (ECI) and a number of opposition political parties.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Election Commission of India (ECI) were sought by the bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Amit Mahajan on Friday to get a response from the Centre Government. The matter was then set for a hearing on October 31, 2023.
The Court, meantime, declined to set the next hearing’s date earlier or to issue any kind of temporary injunction prohibiting the aforementioned political parties from using the abbreviation I.N.D.I.A.
However, the court also requested responses from the opposition parties listed on the petition, including the Indian National Congress, TMC, RLD, JDU, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party, JMM, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), PDP, JKNC, CPI, CPI (M), MDMK, Konganadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Mani) and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK).
Through Attorney Vaibhav Singh, the petitioner Girish Upadhya claimed that several political parties are using the national flag of India as the logo of their alliance, which is a further calculated move to win the support and votes of innocent voters and as a means of lighting a spark that could eventually turn into political violence.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) is an opposition front formed by the leaders of 26 parties to challenge the BJP in the upcoming elections, according to the petitioner.
The petition claimed that political parties are intentionally abusing the acronym India, which will only serve to undermine public support for our wonderful country, India (Bharat), both within the country and on numerous international forums.
The argument made in the petition was that using the term I.N.D.I.A. as an acronym rather than in its full name (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) will cause confusion among innocent citizens. If the alliance, known as the I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), is defeated or loses the general election of 2024, it will be projected that India as a whole is defeated, which will hurt the sentiment of innocent citizens and could result in political violence in the nation.
