Different countries, similar election symbols

Each election, I wonder what is the rationale behind allotting election symbols to a political party or a candidate. If one needs to identify with a candidate, shouldn’t a picture of the candidate, or a party flag for that matter, be enough? The curious thing is these symbols hardly have anything to do with the party ideology or manifesto, and they are hardly consistent with a candidate’s personality (read “sher”), the only notable exception being PTI, perhaps. Some were just assigned randomly on a party’s first outing to contest and they have held on to them. Yet others like Jamaat e Islami have settled on whatever they have been assigned, I can recall at least three in my own lifetime.

It’s a very similar culture in a more mature democracy next door — election symbols are more than a formality. A few years ago, around 2012, a politician from Indian city of Hyderabad was in news in India due to some controversial remarks. While looking up on him online, I came across a video of the gentleman, Akbaruddin Owaisi, addressing a rally in his stronghold of Hyderabad’s old quarters, making a gesture to his supporters. It was as if he was flying an imaginary kite. It was only then I noticed the “kite” on the giant screen put up for the rally. Akbaruddin Owaisi’s party, AIMIM’s, election symbol is a kite. As a Karachiite, being all too familiar with the kite, I couldn’t help but wonder; do politicians giving controversial statements have something to do with kite as an election symbol? — Mirza Hashaam Ahmed Baig