Maharashtra assembly elections: Sharad Pawar-led NCP urges EC to delist similar symbols for upcoming polls

Sharad Pawar. File Pic

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has requested the Election Commission of India to withdraw or exclude certain symbols which it claimed are "deceptively similar" to the "man playing turha" symbol officially allotted to it, reported the PTI.

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) argued that allocating phonetically similar symbols, such as "Trumpet/Tutari," to Independent candidates has put the party at a significant disadvantage and goes against the principle of creating a level playing field.

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According to the PTI, it refuted that allocating the "Trumpet" symbol to Independent candidates was appropriate and cited instances in the recently-held Lok Sabha elections 2024 wherein similar symbols confused voters, affecting the party's electoral performance in certain constituencies.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) had assigned the "man playing turha" symbol to the NCP (SP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 following a split within the party.

In its plea, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) requested the Election Commission of India to immediately withdraw or exclude the "Turhi/Trumpet/Tutari" symbol from the list of free symbols for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, due in October this year, as per the PTI.

The party stressed the importance of upholding the fairness and integrity of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections.

Citing data from nine Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) emphasised how "deceptive" symbols had led to relatively unknown candidates gaining a significant number of votes.

In the recent Parliamentary polls, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP bagged 8 of the ten seats it had contested as a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Congress.

The party cited the example of Independent nominee Sanjay Gade who contested from the Satara seat on the Trumpet symbol and garnered 37,062 votes, which led to the defeat of NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde by a narrow margin of 32,771 votes.

Shinde bagged 5,38,363 votes against the winning candidate Udayanraje Bhosale of BJP who secured 5,71,134 votes.

(with PTI inputs)