Road roller, CCTV camera, coconut: New poll symbols on the block

MUMBAI:WHAT is common between a drill machine, road roller, bat, carrom board, CCTV cameras and a watermelon? All of them are election symbols of lesser-known parties and independent candidates contesting the assembly elections.

Among the list of bizarre symbols are a biscuit, coconut, helicopter, ship and Mumbai’s favourite autorickshaw. Harsvardhan Pandey, an independent candidate from Chandivali, has a water tank as his election symbol, while Abdul Baig, independent candidate from Anushakti Nagar, has the popular game Ludo.

With a large part of its population illiterate when the first general elections were held in 1951-52, visual symbols were allotted to candidates and parties. Some of the most popular symbols are the Congress’s hand, Bharatiya Janata Party’s lotus and Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow.

According to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Election Commission allots symbols to anyone contesting polls. If the candidate is from a recognised party, he gets the party’s symbol. For independents or candidates from unrecognised parties, the candidate has to approach the EC and get a symbol allotted from the available list.

Anil Koni, who contested the recent Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Mumbai North East, had a stethoscope as his symbol. “It was so difficult to popularise the symbol, as I did not know what it was called in Hindi or Marathi.”

Surendra Jondhale, a political analyst, said, “Bizarre symbols that people can’t connect to erase the identity of the independent candidates who are already fighting a tough battle.”