Trumpeter vs. Trumpet: Symbol Mix-Up Costs NCP Satara Seat, Splits Votes in Multiple Constituencies

In the Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) contested ten seats. Astonishingly, independent candidates who contested on the 'Trumpet' symbol, similar to Pawar's 'Trumpeter' symbol, garnered a total of 432,211 votes in these constituencies.

After the NCP split, the Election Commission assigned the 'Clock' symbol to Ajit Pawar's faction and the 'Trumpeter' symbol to Sharad Pawar's group. The Sharad Pawar faction campaigned vigorously using the 'Trumpet' symbol. However, during the elections, this symbol caused confusion across all constituencies. The Election Commission labeled the symbol given to many independents as 'Trumpet' on the ballot papers, leading to significant voter confusion about which 'Trumpet' symbol to select. Despite this confusion, Pawar's candidates managed to win in eight out of the ten constituencies, except Satara. The British instrument 'Trumpet' is locally called 'Pipani'. The confusion between these similar symbols was evident during voting.

"Election strategies are always present, but the BJP used deceit through the Election Commission. The 'Trumpet' symbol was misused to split our votes. Except for Satara, voters in the other eight constituencies saw through this deceit," said Shekhar Mane, State Inspector for the Sharad Pawar faction.

Third and Fourth Positions: What Happened in Six Constituencies?

1. Baramati: Independent candidate Sohel Shah Sheikh secured 14,917 votes, placing fourth.
2. Shirur: Independent candidate Manohar Wadekar received 28,330 votes, finishing third.
3. Ahmednagar: Independent candidate Mohan Alekar garnered 44,597 votes, ranking third.
4. Raver: Independent candidate Eknath Salunkhe got 43,982 votes, finishing fourth.
5. Bhiwandi: New Rashtriya Samaj Party candidate Kanchan Vakhare received 24,625 votes, placing fourth.
6. Wardha: Mohan Raykar secured 20,795 votes, ranking third.

Vote Split in Satara, Third Place in Madha

- Madha: New Rashtriya Samaj Party's Ramchandra Ghutukade, who had the 'Trumpet' symbol, finished third with 58,421 votes. The winning candidate from the Pawar faction, Dhiraysheel Mohite-Patil, defeated BJP's Ranjitsingh Nimbalkar by 120,837 votes. Mohite-Patil claims Ghutukade's votes would have been his.
  
- Satara: BJP's Udayanraje Bhosale defeated Pawar faction's Shashikant Shinde by 32,771 votes. Independent candidate Sanjay Gade, with the 'Trumpet' symbol, received 37,062 votes, causing a significant vote split according to the Pawar faction.

Pipani Symbol Confused Voters in Satara: Jayant Patil

"In the Lok Sabha elections, our symbol was the 'Trumpeter.' A similar symbol, 'Pipani,' also appeared. The confusion between these two symbols affected our performance, with 150,000 votes going to 'Pipani.' This confusion caused us to lose the Satara seat," said Jayant Patil, the state president of the Sharad Pawar faction. He added that they lost the Satara seat by 45,000 votes, of which 37,000 went to 'Pipani.'

In Baramati and Beed, independent candidates with the 'Pipani' symbol received more votes than those from the Bahujan Samaj Party. "We campaigned for the 'Trumpeter' symbol, but many voters, confused, pressed the button for 'Pipani.' Despite raising this issue, the Election Commission deliberately ignored it," Patil alleged.

Remarkable Outcome in Beed

In the closely watched Beed constituency, Sharad Pawar faction's candidate Bajrang Sonawane won by 6,553 votes. Meanwhile, Ashok Thorat, running with the 'Trumpet' symbol, received 54,850 votes, finishing third.