This party wants faces, not symbols on EVMs

Rashtriya Rashtrawadi Party is contesting three seats in Delhi, 25 nationwide

The Rashtriya Rashtrawadi Party, which has fielded three candidates in Delhi, has entered the parliamentary election fray with a peculiar objective — to remove party symbols from EVMs.

“MPs must be true representatives of the people who have elected them. Putting the face of the candidate on EVM will make him or her accountable, and not the party,” said Virendra Singh Bharat, who is contesting from the New Delhi constituency.

Premium on face value

Mr. Bharat, who has been allotted ‘CCTV Camera’ as the party symbol by the poll panel, said the RRP has boycotted the symbol as it wants people to vote for him on his “face value alone”.

Justifying the party’s unique stand, Mr. Bharat said if the party symbols are removed from EVMs, it will become a compulsion for the candidate to seek votes on their photo.

“This will benefit the voters, as the political leaders will have to regularly visit their constituencies to make themselves visible and get familiar with the residents,” Mr. Bharat explained.

Another benefit of EVMs without party symbols is that the political parties would be compelled to give tickets to workers who are active and a known face among the voters.

This, Mr. Bharat said, would improve party democracy.