Telangana Assembly Elections 2018: Congress Sees Red Over Pink Slips On Evms

Pink slips on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the Telangana assembly elections has the Congress seeing red. Because pink is the colour of K Chandrashekhar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which has ruled the state since its birth in 2014.

A couple of weeks ago, the state election commission placed orders for the printing of 90 lakh ballot papers in pink for 90 lakh EVMs. These are slips pasted on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) which have printed on them the names of contestants and their elections symbols to help voters identify and vote for the candidate they want to.

The Congress has objected strongly. “This is completely against the spirit of conducting free and fair elections in Telangana. It will definitely give undue electoral advantage to the TRS,” said Congress official spokesman Dasoju Sravan, insisting that everyone is aware that pink is a colour associated with the TRS. “There is every possibility of voters coming under the psychological influence of the pink colour and vote for the TRS candidates,” he alleged.

Sravan pointed out that the EC had first come up with a proposal to set up pink polling booths exclusively for women. “After the Congress party objected to it, the EC withdrew the same. But now, it has come up with pink ballot papers. When we objected to it, the EC has thrown up its hands saying the order had already been placed,” he said.

Other parties are yet to object. The Congress, which leads an alliance of four parties for the Telangana elections, is the TRS’ main rival in the state.

Many political parties have a strong colour association — saffron for the BJP, red for Communist parties, a dark blue for Bahujan Samaj Party, green for AIADMK and yellow for Telugu Desam Party. Any banner, flag or poster in pink in Telangana definitely belongs to the TRS.

Telangana votes for a new assembly on December 7. Votes will be counted along with those of five other states on December 11.

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