The Madras High Court on Thursday directed Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider within two weeks a plea made by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) to allot the ‘top’ symbol for the Parliamentary election this year as well as the 2026 Assembly election.
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy issued the direction while disposing of a writ petition filed by the party. They made it clear that the petitioner’s request must be considered in accordance with the relevant rules.
The orders were passed after senior counsel M. Ajmal Khan, representing the party, stated that it was derecognised in 2010 on the basis of an erroneous calculation of the percentage of votes secured in the 2006 Assembly election and consequently lost the reserved symbol.
