Election Commission removes Truck symbol

TRS got a shot in the arm ahead of the Parliament elections, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) approving its redesigned election symbol of ‘Car’ with thick strokes to ensure clear visibility on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot papers. The redesigned ‘Car’ symbol will be used in all major elections henceforth.Further, the ECI also withdrew from the list of free symbols the ‘Truck’ and ‘Iron’ (box) in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since it had a striking resemblance to the TRS’ ‘Car,’ a reserved symbol. The Commission, however, declined to consider the TRS’ plea to remove ‘Camera’ and ‘Farmer driving Tractor’ symbols which also had resemblance with the ‘Car’ symbol from the list of free symbols, stating that they had no resemblance.

It may be recalled that the TRS lost several votes to ‘Truck’ symbol and even suffered defeat in some constituencies during the recent Assembly polls. The TRS leaders discovered that due to the resemblance of ‘Truck’ with ‘Car’ symbol and also bad visibility of ‘Car’ symbol, several elderly and rural voters voted for ‘Truck’ symbol. The issue was immediately taken up with the ECI which examined the plea and took the decision in favour of TRS.

Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar who pursued the issue with the ECI, thanked the Commission for its prompt action. “Some candidates of Samajwadi Forward Bloc party contested the Assembly elections on ‘Truck’ symbol, and it led to reduced margins for TRS candidates, in some cases as much as 5,000 votes. This led to defeat of some TRS candidates in the elections. However, the TRS won a majority seats and retained power in the State owing to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s initiatives. We are confident that the redesigned ‘Car’ symbol will further strengthen our vote base,” he said.