Delhi High Court To Hear PIL Seeking Restraint On Opposition's New Name INDIA

New Delhi: A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court to restrain opposition parties from using the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) for their alliance, according to Bar and Bench.

The petition, filed by an activist Girish Bharadwaj, is listed for hearing on Friday before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula.

As many as 26 opposition parties had come together in Bengaluru and named their alliance INDIA. These parties have said that they will contest the 2024 lok sabha elections together against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In his plea, filed through advocate Vaibhav Singh, Bharadwaj cited the statements of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. These leaders have presented the name of their alliance as the “name of our nation and tried to show that the NDA/BJP” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in conflict with “our own nation”, the petition said, according to Bar and Bench.

The plea further said that Rahul Gandhi's statement has created confusion in the minds of the common people that the upcoming elections will be fought between an alliance (NDA) and the country (INDIA).

The court has been told that the petitioner sent a representation to the Election Commission of India (ECI), but no action was taken by the ECI prompting him to move the court.