PM Modi jibe at RJD ‘lalten’: As tech changes lives, where various parties’ symbols stand

In doing so, the PM implied that the very symbol of the RJD was not in sync with contemporary technology. He claimed in the same vein that his government was behind the push that provided smartphones to people in the remotest villages – thus projecting the BJP as the “solution”, and the RJD as the “laggard” in terms of development.

Here, a party symbol became part of the battle for political hegemony, aided by the fact that the RJD’s symbol, projecting the party as a representative of the poor, harks back to a pre-electrification time.

Party symbols vary in terms of their relationship with evolving technology. The BJP’s symbol, the lotus, sidesteps technological change altogether, as it represents a flower. The TMC’s symbol is also flowers and grass – something unrelated to technological change, loss of forest cover in the country notwithstanding. The hand, the symbol of the Congress, is also independent of technology, as the human hand will outlive any change in technology. Similarly, the elephant, the symbol of the BSP and also the Asom Gana Parishad, is independent of technological changes.

By contrast, the bicycle, the symbol of the Samajwadi Party and also the TDP, has a more direct relation with technological change. As per a 2020 Niti Ayog report, between 2001 and 2011, while “two-wheelers and cars have seen a much faster growth of more than 10-% in both rural and urban areas,… bicycle growth increased by a mere 3-%.” However, since 21-% workers in rural India and 17-% in urban India reported cycling to work in the 2011 census, the bicycle symbol still reaches out symbolically to the working class.

The CPI (M)’s symbol of hammer and sickle also harks back to older technology. In particular, the sickle has been technologically replaced by brush cutters and combine harvesters in agricultural operations. However, small and marginal farmers still use the sickle in a significant manner, and this class of farmers is believed to constitute 86-% of India’s farming community. So, politically, the symbol frames the party as standing for small workers and small farmers in a labour-intensive economy.

An example where technology has moved faster than the party symbol is the alarm clock symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party. With the spread of smartphones, which both show time and have an alarm, technology has had the better of the NCP’s party symbol. As of May, India had over 640 million smartphone users.

The Bharat Rashtra Samiti, earlier the TRS, is a much more recent party that was founded in 2001. Its symbol, the car, also conveys its recency, as the party came up at a time when the number of cars jumped post liberalisation. In 2001, India had 7 million registered cars/jeeps/taxies, up from 2.9-million in 1991, as per data available on Scribd.

The YSRCP has the ceiling fan as its symbol. In the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey, 88-% households surveyed reported having a ceiling fan. The annual sale of ceiling fans in the country is around 41 million. So, while it has been replaced by air conditioners in large corporate offices, important government buildings, airports, cinema halls in cities, etc., the ceiling fan is a very identifiable symbol for people.

The AIUDF in Assam has the lock and key as its symbol, something used universally in homes. The LJP’s symbol is the bungalow, something which is again independent of technology and is always much in demand. The symbol of the INLD in Haryana is a pair of spectacles – something always in use.

The symbol of the JDU is the arrow, and that of the JMM and also the Shiv Sena a bow and arrow – things that people can always identify though rarely use. The JDS has the symbol of a lady carrying paddy on her head, something associated with poor farmers. That of the IUML is a ladder – something always in use by the poor, the proliferation of escalators in malls and airports notwithstanding. The MNS in Maharashtra has a railway engine as its symbol, but it’s the old-fashioned steam engine rather than the electric engine.

The AAP’s slogan, aimed at the poor and also a statement against corruption, is the broom used to sweep the streets in India. The symbol of the BJD is the conch, something unrelated to technology.

The symbols of both the main Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu are nature-related – the rising sun of the DMK and two leaves of the AIADMK. In Punjab, the SAD has the traditional weighing scale as its symbol, harking back to a time before digital weighing scales used by shops these days.

The RLD in UP has the handpump as its symbol, something still used widely in villages and symbolising farmers and rural life. The symbol of the AIMIM is the kite, flown on specific occasions in India, and independent of technological changes.