Overview
- The party, which disclosed Tuesday that the candle is missing from the Election Commission’s official symbol list, said it will contest on a new mark.
- BGPM filed nominations Wednesday for Kurseong and Kalimpong with large rallies, and its Darjeeling nominee plans to file Thursday.
- Leaders said they have applied for the 'battery torch' and also named 'binoculars' and a 'table' as backup choices from the pool of free symbols for unrecognised parties.
- Reporting cited two likely reasons for the omission, including the candle being a reserved symbol for Meghalaya’s People’s Democratic Front and a new rule that lets parties keep a past free symbol only if they won at least 1% of valid state votes.
- Party workers said posters and flags with the candle are now unusable, and leaders said they will keep using the candle in local and GTA elections where the state commission permits it.