India: Akhilesh Yadav Wins Right to Use Bicycle as Election Symbol | The New York Times
India’s election commission on Monday resolved a feud that had split one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, by granting the politician Akhilesh Yadav his party’s most recognizable asset: the image of a bicycle. In a democracy that is home to 287 million illiterate people, the simple party symbols that appear on ballots often matter more to voters than the candidates’ names do. “Lots of people just look at the symbol and vote,” said K.F. Wilfred, the principal secretary for judicial affairs at the election commission. “When they don’t have a permanent symbol, that political party’s brand image just goes out the window.”