In 1980, when the BJP was formed, party leader L K Advani was tasked with finalising party symbol.
He met Chief Election Commissioner S L Shakdhar and from the list, ‘lotus’ was chosen.
The casualty of this choice was ‘rose’. After noticing ‘rose’ among the available symbols, Advani told Shakdhar that the two symbols (lotus and rose) looked somewhat identical and voters would be confused if they see them on the same ballot.
“Ok, request granted,” Shakdhar said. ‘Rose’ was then removed.
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