The Election Commission on Wednesday said that the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), the political outfit branching out of SNDP, cannot use the "folded palm" logo as its party symbol. The EC said that this would confuse voters as it is similar to that of the Congress' "open palm" symbol.
The announcement comes a day after the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said that it will lodge a complaint with the EC against BDJS over the same issue.
The Congress party voiced its reservations against the "folded palm symbol" chosen by the newly floated party as it strikes a resemblance with the former's official party symbol.The Congress has been using the open palm symbol since 1980, after former PM Indira Gandhi approved it.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, KPCC chief V M Sudheeran said that BDJS's logo is too similar to the Congress party’s symbol.
It was just last Saturday that Kerala’s Ezhava outfit SNDP leader Vellapally Natesan officially announced the formation of a new political party and said that the symbol of the party will be joined palms and the flags would be in white and red colours.
There were reports that the new party will form an alliance with the BJP in the recent local elections.
For the last few months, the SNDP leadership has been showing an affinity towards the BJP and the outfits even coordinated in several places in the Kerala Civic polls.