KOLHAPUR: In at least nine assembly constituencies, NCP (SP) candidates suffered because independent candidates with the trumpet symbol cut into their votes.
These NCP (SP) candidates lost by slender margins, ranging from 377 to 4,516 votes. At the same time, independent candidates with the trumpet symbol bagged between 2,860 and 7,430 votes in these constituencies.With a nearly 11.3% vote share, NCP (SP) won 10 seats out of the 85 it contested.
In 78 assembly constituencies that NCP (SP) contested, there were independent candidates with the trumpet symbol. In the Lok Sabha election too, the trumpet symbol was confused with NCP (SP)’s official ‘tutari vajavnara manus (man blowing tutari)’ symbol. In the Lok Sabha seat of Satara, the trumpet, referred to as pipani in Marathi, led to the defeat of the candidate.
Among the candidates who suffered because of the trumpet symbol this time is Devdatt Nikam, who was contesting against NCP’s Dilip Walse Patil from Ambegaon. Devdatt Nikam lost by 1,523 votes, while the independent candidate—incidentally also named Nikam—with the trumpet symbol got 2,965 votes. Similarly, former minister Rajesh Tope, who was contesting from the Ghansawangi constituency in Jalna district, lost by 2,309 votes. The independent with the trumpet symbol here got 4,830 votes. Tope was defeated by Shiv Sena’s Hikmat Udan, a new entrant into politics.
Anish Gawande, national NCP (SP) spokesperson, told TOI: “Candidates with the trumpet symbol got fewer votes. However, when it comes to win or loss, that played a role in key seats. The scale of confusion—regarding trumpet and tutari vajavnara manus—had reduced significantly this time. There are other factors too that contributed to the loss of our candidates. We made multiple requests to the Election Commission to freeze the (tutari) symbol, but they were rejected. There was a slight increase in the size of our symbol on the ballot unit. We are going to move before the chief election officer of Maharashtra to freeze the symbol for the upcoming local body elections.”
In Karjat-Jamkhed, NCP (SP) candidate Rohit Pawar defeated his BJP rival Ram Shinde by 1,243 votes. Also in the fray was the NCP (SP) candidate’s namesake, Rohit Chandrakant Pawar, an independent with the trumpet symbol who bagged 3,489 votes. “I have a very simple question for the Election Commission. Is it its job to avoid confusion or create confusion? How did a dummy candidate contesting against me get trumpet, which creates confusion in the minds of the voters? The truth should come out, and such attempts to destroy democracy should also stop,” NCP (SP)’s Rohit Pawar posted on X.