Patna, August 26: Janata Dal-United (JDU) will challenge the Election Commission of India (EC) decision to not grant it the concession to use its reserved symbol for contesting elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. "Party has decided to challenge the decision in Commission and if required, we will go to High Court as well. Somewhere, now our demand from EC is to freeze the election symbol of JMM. Because, in Bihar, they are not a prominent player and in Jharkhand, they have exploited tribals using this symbol," JDU leader Rajeev Ranjan said on Monday while speaking to ANI.

The JDU leader said they were not discouraged by the decision."Having considered all aspects of the matter, the Commission has directed that the Janata Dal(United) will not be granted concession under Paragraph 10 of the Symbols Order to use their reserved symbol "Arrow" for contesting elections in the States of Jharkhand and Maharashtra, henceforth," the Election Commission of India had said in a order dated August 16. JD(U) Not Part of NDA Outside Bihar; Will Contest Alone in Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand And Jammu & Kashmir Elections.

The order came on an application submitted by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) requesting EC not to grant concession for allotment of "Arrow", the reserved symbol of JD(U) under the provisions of Para 10 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968, to the candidates set up by JD(U) in any election in the State of Jharkhand.

In its order, the EC said it has earlier considered a similar request from JD(U), in their application dated January 28, 2019 after taking into consideration the vote share of JMM and SHS in the State of Bihar when the said parties were granted concession under Paragraph 10 of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968 (here in after 'Symbols Order').

Having considered the matter, the Commission had passed an order dated March 8, 2019, directing that JMM and Shiv Sena will not be granted concession under Paragraph 10 of the Symbols Order, to use their reserved symbol 'Bow & Arrow' for contesting elections in Bihar, henceforth.

"The observation made in the order dated March 8, 2019 are equally applicable for the present case of JMM. The same principle would apply in Maharashtra where Shiv Sena Party has "Bow & Arrow" as reserved symbol," EC said in its order.Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are slated to be held later this year.