Thiruvananthapuram: With the 'Auto Rickshaw' officially allotted to the Kerala Congress (PJ Joseph faction), an ally of the UDF, for the upcoming local body elections, rival factions, which had previously contested under the symbol, are now forced to adopt alternatives.

Kerala Congress (B), chaired by Transport Minister KB Ganesh Kumar, has been allotted the scooter as its symbol, while Kerala Congress (Jacob) will contest under the battery torch. In the previous assembly elections, all three Kerala Congress factions had contested using the Auto Rickshaw symbol. This significant change came to light when the State Election Commission announced the allotment of election symbols to 28 political parties. The latest entrant among the symbols is the `Man blowing trumpet', allotted to the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).

List of other parties and symbols

• INL - weighing scale
• NCP - clock
• PDP - boat
• BDJS - pot
• SDPI - spectacles
• Twenty 20 - mango
• Welfare Party - gas Cylinder
• Forward Bloc - Lion
• CMP (C P John faction) - star
• NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)- Man blowing a trumpet
• Janata Dal (U) – Arrow
• Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) – Bungalow
• RJD – Hurricane Lamp
• Marxist Communist Party of India (United) – Flag
• National Secular Conference – Glass Tumbler
• Rashtriya Lok Dal – Hand Pump
• Rashtriya Lok Samaan Party – Ceiling Fan
• Revolutionary Marxist Party of India – Football
• Samajwadi Party – Bicycle
• Shiv Sena (SS) – Bow and Arrow
• Anna DMK – Cap
• Trinamool Congress – Flowers and Grass
• CPI (ML) Red Star – Bell
• Congress (Secular) – Fruit-bearing Coconut Tree
• DMK – Rising Sun