Sarin seeks vote for stethoscope; CPM contests third time without Palakkad party symbol

Kottayam ∙ Left independent Dr. P. Sarin opposes Palakkad‘s sub-selection of independent symbol Stethoscope. In the Palakkad constituency, this is the third time since the formation of the CPM that the left wing candidates have not contested the party symbol. Out of the 14 assembly elections held since 1965, 12 times the Left candidates have gone against the hammer and sickle star symbol.

In 1980, the Palakkad seat was given to the Arash Congress of the Left Front. The Congress (U) sent to its senior leader KA Chandran that day. Charka was a symbol. KA Chandran lost to UDF candidate CM Sundarath. Similar to today’s situation, in 1982 DCC LDF Secretary NA Karim was nominated against CM Sundar. Karim, who was against an independent symbol, lost.

Years ago, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and KM Mani had left the party symbol and fought on an independent symbol. In Oommen Chandy’s maiden contest in 1970 at Puthupalli, he fought in the independent symbol of a coconut. In 1969, the Congress at the national level split into two under the labels Indira Congress and Sangthan Congress. After that, the party’s official symbol, the yoked bull, was frozen by the Electoral Commission. Indira’s Congress candidates campaigned with the coconut symbol in the Kerala assembly elections that followed. At that time, Oommen Chandy was considered independent. Later in 1982, Oommen Chandy faced a similar situation. After leaving the Congress (S), AK Antony and his colleagues contested under the Congress (A) label in Kerala. The Election Commission considered Oommen Chandy as an independent even then. I got the independent sign two pages.

Just before the 1987 assembly elections, the Kerala Congress split between the Mani and Joseph factions. Since PJ Joseph was the Chairman of Samyukta Kerala Congress, Joseph got approval from the Election Commission and the horse, the symbol of the party. On that day KM Mani was recognized as an independent by the Election Commission. The two-leaf mani, an independent symbol, was adopted for competition. The two leaves later became the official symbol of the Kerala Congress (M) party. After the death of KM Mani, the symbol of the UDF candidate in the Pala by-election 2019 became a controversy. As a result of the struggle in the Kerala Congress (M), party candidate Jose Tom had to give up the two-party ticket and contest on the Kaitachakka symbol. When he reached Kaitachakka from Randila, the Pala electorate rejected KM Mani’s successor.

∙ Significance of symbol

Political parties have their own election symbol as part of their identity. The provisions for identification of political parties are set out under the Electoral Symbols (Preservation and Allowance) Act. A candidate who contests on the party’s symbol and wins must adhere to the party’s whip. Failure to do so will result in loss of membership through the Anti-Defection Act. Those who fight on the independent symbol and win can take independent political positions in the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha.

∙ How do you approve a symbol?

Symbols are awarded to recognized political parties on the basis of a letter from their official spokesperson to the electorate. The symbol letter is usually issued by the respective party’s chief regional officer. District committee chiefs give letters to Congress and BJP candidates. In CPM, the district secretary holds power. Independent candidates may be awarded a symbol from the pool of independent symbols. They can request three symbols in order of priority. From this, depending on what is available, the Electoral Officer will give the symbol to the independents.

Before independence, there were different voting systems in India. These methods were tried in Travancore, Kochi, Tiru Kochi and Kerala. The most important was the ‘Color Box System’. Accordingly, every polling booth will have as many ballot boxes as the number of candidates. The boxes will be in different colors. Each box will have the name of each resident. The voter can deposit the ballot paper in the box of their preferred voter.

Since the first general election to the Lok Sabha in 1952, the color box system has undergone minor changes. Instead of giving the ballot boxes different colours, the candidate’s symbol is printed on the ballot box. That’s how the bull box, the tiger box and the elephant box reached the election floor. As in the color box system, the voter can deposit the ballot paper in the box of their preferred candidate.

∙ Marking system

The practice of putting the ballot paper in a box attached with a long symbol did not last. Then the marking system which became popular in the field of Indian elections was introduced. The marking system was tested for the first time in the 1958 Devikulam by-election in Kerala. According to the marking system, the name of each candidate and the symbol that will be given to the candidate will be written on the ballot paper next to the name on the right side. After registering the vote in the place specified on the ballot paper, the voter can place the ballot paper in the ballot box. Later, according to technological advancement, the method of voting also changed with time.

∙ The voting machine came, the symbol did not change

The new development in this field is the advent of electronic voting machine. Kerala was the first in India to hold elections using voting machines. In the 1982 Kerala assembly elections, the voting machine was first tested in 56 booths in Paravoor constituency in Ernakulam district. But along with the result of the election, the court also went into controversy. Congress candidate AC Jose, who lost the election, questioned the validity of the voting machine in court. The Supreme Court ruled that the election does not use the valid voting machine. After that, voting was repeated in all the booths where the voting machine was used in Paravur. Later, the Representation of the People Act was amended in 1989 to allow the use of voting machines. Since the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, voting machines have been used across the country.