Polls, politics and policies: A look at political parties with bizarre names and symbols

We all are familiar with the election symbols of various political parties like lotus, hand, broom etc. While lotus is India’s national flower, Congress’s hand symbol goes with its slogan 'Congress ka hath, aam aadmi ke sath.'

Whereas, there are several political parties out there with humorous names or symbols and bizarre policies. So now that the election extravaganza is over, let us have a look at them and enjoy some light moments after the intense political battle.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) election symbol broom, after it was allotted to the party, gave rise to many slogans like 'lagegi jhaadu udegi dhool, na rahega panja na rahega phool' and 'jhaadu chalao beiman bhagao'. The party, as its name goes, projects itself as the saviour of aam aadmi, but do you know which is the real ‘aam’ party? It’s Tamil Nadu-based party Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), whose election symbol is mango (aam).

In Jharkhand, comb is the symbol of Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. One wonders what this symbol signifies, but it runs the risk of alienating bald voters as they might be envious of comb!

All political parties always try to project themselves as pro-poor, but the Lok Janshakti Party had bungalow as the party’s symbol. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, DMK’s symbol is the Sun. One wonders if that was the reason why its chief M Karunanidhi always used to wear sunglasses!

However, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has the ultimate symbol representing the main purpose behind the formation of any political party and for which they fight elections. Any guesses? It’s the CHAIR!

Apart from interesting symbols, there are also some parties with unusual names like Gareeb Aadmi Party, Hum Sabki Party, Aapka Hamara Party, Aazadi Ka Antim Aandolan Dal, Annadata Party, Bharat Ki Lok Jimmedar Party and Jagte Raho Party.

But such amusing symbols or names are not just limited to Indian political parties. There are quite a few political parties across the globe with bizarre policies as well as slogans. In Canada, there exists a Rhinoceros Party, named so because according to the party, “rhinoceros is an appropriate symbol for a political party since politicians, by nature, are thick-skinned.” 

The Rhinoceros Party made bizarre promises of repealing the Law of Gravity, capturing the United States and Antarctica, and dumping the country’s nuclear waste in the Senate. The party also promised to break all its promises!

In New Zealand, McGillicuddy Serious Party (McGSP) led a campaign with the slogan, “If you want to waste your vote, vote for us.”