Chapter III
ELECTION
20. (1) If there are more contesting candidates than one in respect of any constituency, the Returning Officer shall-
1[(a) allocate, in the case of a contesting candidate set up by a registered political party, the symbol reserved for that party by the Commission under this Order or the rules 2[:
Provided that the Commission may, on an application made to it in this behalf within three days after the publication of the notification under clause (1) of Article 11, allot one of the prescribed symbols to the candidate of a combination of two or more registered political parties who have agreed to set up joint candidates for election;]
(aa) allocate, 3[in the case of independent] contesting candidates, subject to any direction of the Commission, one of the prescribed symbols to each such contesting candidate; and in so doing shall, so far as possible, have regard for any preference indicated by the candidate;] 4[and]
(b) publish in such manner as the Commission may direct the names of contesting candidates arranged in the alphabetical order specifying against each the symbol allocated to him 5[***]
6[***]
(2) The Returning Officer shall arrange to exhibit prominently at each polling station the name and symbol of each contesting candidate.