Om Prakash Rajbhar, the Uttar Pradesh Minister and leader of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has come to understand that his party's recent defeat in the Lok Sabha elections was due to confusion over their poll symbol – a walking stick.
Rajbhar explained, "Our election symbol was a walking stick at the third number on the EVM. The Mool Niwasi Samaj Party had the hockey stick as its poll symbol and was placed in the sixth position on the EVM. Our voters got confused between the walking stick and the hockey stick since they both look strikingly similar. This explains how the Mool Niwasi Samaj Party candidate, Lilawati Rajbhar, got more than 47,000 votes."
Rajbhar’s son, Arvind Rajbhar, who ran as a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, ended up losing the election.
Om Prakash Rajbhar added, "My party will now approach the Election Commission and urge them not to allot such similar-looking symbols to candidates since they create confusion in the minds of voters. I am talking to my party workers to know if they want a change in our symbol."
Meanwhile, Anil Rajbhar, a BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Minister, commented that the votes Arvind Rajbhar received in Ghosi were primarily from BJP supporters.
"The SBSP did not get Rajbhar votes -- neither in Ghosi nor in other constituencies. Om Prakash Rajbhar's statement reflects his pessimism," he added.
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