Says colour is associated with TRS, voters may get influenced

In the poll-bound Telangana, the EC’s choice of pink coloured ballot papers pasted on EVMs has got Opposition Congress up in arms. The party on Thursday approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking withdrawal of the pink papers contending the colour is associated with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and voters might get influenced.

In its memorandum to the EC, the Congress pleaded for withdrawal of a direction to procure 9 lakh pink papers for the December 7 Assembly elections.

However, EC officials clarified as the polls are being conducted only for the Telangana Assembly, the voter slip will be white in colour and the ballot papers pasted on EVMs will be in pink as per the Representatives of Peoples Act.” The objection to the pink slips came after the EC placed orders for the printing of 90 lakh papers in pink for 90 lakh EVMs. These slips are pasted on the EVMs and have the names of the contestants and their party symbols.

“Pink is the official colour of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, it is synonymous with the party. The usage of pink coloured ballots without a doubt will give the TRS an undue advantage over other contesting parties,” the Congress said in the memorandum.

“The EC is tasked with the conduct of free and fair elections under the Constitution. We are certain that it will agree as this is an important issue that needs immediate redressal. Party colours are of great significance for representation and its ideologies, inter alia, they also create a bias in the minds of the voters,” it said.

The party also pointed out that during the recently concluded Greater Hyderabad Municipal polls, the TRS had objected to the proposal of electronic voting machines having a pink button to designate the “NOTA” or “None of the Above” category vote, saying their voters would mistake the button “for the TRS and press the NOTA button inadvertently”.

 “So great is the TRS association with the colour that they acknowledged the electoral harm that any confusion would cause them,” said the Congress seeking immediate withdrawal of the direction to procure pink ballot papers.

“The EC must take immediate note of this issue and withdraw the above mentioned Impugned Memo by EC, Telangana with immediate effect. It would be against the spirit of conducting fair and free elections in Telangana if any part of the process seeks to favour, even inadvertently and without malice, one party over the other. Furthermore, the withdrawal of the Impugned Memo would not materially alter the conduct of the elections, but it would go a long way in securing protection against arbitrariness in administrative decision making,” the Congress said in the memorandum.

The State Congress has also challenged the decision before Chief Electoral officer Rajat Kumar. However, the State’s top poll panel official has said the pink ballot papers pasted on EVMs are in accordance to the provisions of the Representation of People Act.

Colour has always played a major role in the identification of some parties. For the BJP it is saffron, dark blue for the BSP, yellow for the TDP and green for the AIADMK.