Hyderabad: The 180 farmers contesting from Nizamabad have been allotted symbols like fruits, fruit containers, football, football player, bread, bread toaster, apple, grapes and cauliflower. Many of these appear similar.
Symbols like bread and toaster, camera and CCTV, a chakki (grinding stone) and a chapati roller appear to be similar. Other such symbols were brush and colour tray, computer and computer mouse, football and football player, petrol pump and bicycle pump.
Some had similar sounding names — pan and pants, pears and peas, pen drive, pen stand, pen nib, pencil box and pencil sharpener.
Political pundits said that the Nizamabad constituency had one urban and six rural segments where such symbols might cause confusion.
The EC has allocated almost all household items as symbols. Figuring on the EVMs will be symbols such as cot, laptop, battery torch, binoculars, briefcase, cake, calculator, carom board, chain, train, window, swing, chimney, coat, almirah, cup and saucer.
Others are dish antenna, door handle, can, extension board, frock, frying pan, gas cylinder, gas stove, ginger, green chilli, gramophone, harmonium, headphones, helicopter, chess board, jackfruit, kettle, key, kitchen sink, lady’s purse.
In its search for symbols, the EC has also harnessed bucket, robot, ring, lighter, mike, mixer, nail cutter, noodles bowl, pendulum, pineapple, air conditioner, razor, refrigerator, room cooler, room heater, safety pin.
The contesting farmers have complained that they have not had the time to tell the voters of their individual symbols, and asked the Election Commission in vain for a postponement of the election.
The Election Commission has deployed giant EVMs to accommodate the names of all candidates, avoid the use of ballot papers for the election.
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