Mumbai, Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has asked the Election Commission of India to remove or exclude certain symbols which it claims are "deceptively similar" to the "man playing turha" symbol " that has been officially assigned to you.
The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) argued that assigning 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.
He refuted that allocating the 'Trumpet' symbol to independent candidates was appropriate and cited instances in the recently held Lok Sabha polls where similar symbols confused voters, affecting the party's electoral performance in certain constituencies.
The ICE had assigned the 'man playing turha' symbol to the NCP (SP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections following a split within the party.
In its plea, the NCP (SP) requested the ICE to immediately withdraw or exclude the 'Turhi/Trumpet/Tutari' symbol from the list of free symbols for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, scheduled for October this year.
The party highlighted 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 NCP (SP) highlighted how "misleading" symbols had led to relatively unknown candidates polling a significant number of votes.
In the recent parliamentary elections, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 8 of the ten seats it had contested as a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent in Maharashtra, sending 48 members to the Lok Sabha.
The party cited the example of independent candidate Sanjay Gade, who contested from Satara seat on the Trumpet symbol and polled 37,062 votes, leading to the defeat of NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde by a narrow margin. of 32,771 votes.
Shinde polled 5,38,363 votes against the winning candidate Udayanraje Bhosale of the BJP, who polled 5,71,134 votes.
The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) argued that assigning 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.
He refuted that allocating the 'Trumpet' symbol to independent candidates was appropriate and cited instances in the recently held Lok Sabha polls where similar symbols confused voters, affecting the party's electoral performance in certain constituencies.
The ICE had assigned the 'man playing turha' symbol to the NCP (SP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections following a split within the party.
In its plea, the NCP (SP) requested the ICE to immediately withdraw or exclude the 'Turhi/Trumpet/Tutari' symbol from the list of free symbols for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, scheduled for October this year.
The party highlighted 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 NCP (SP) highlighted how "misleading" symbols had led to relatively unknown candidates polling a significant number of votes.
In the recent parliamentary elections, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 8 of the ten seats it had contested as a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent in Maharashtra, sending 48 members to the Lok Sabha.
The party cited the example of independent candidate Sanjay Gade, who contested from Satara seat on the Trumpet symbol and polled 37,062 votes, leading to the defeat of NCP (SP) candidate Shashikant Shinde by a narrow margin. of 32,771 votes.
Shinde polled 5,38,363 votes against the winning candidate Udayanraje Bhosale of the BJP, who polled 5,71,134 votes.
