Political overdose in UP’s illegal vehicle number plates

Lucknow: If necessity is the mother of invention, then creativity is the father of politics. Creativity, in Uttar Pradesh these days, is flowing directly into the vehicles’ registration number plates whose numbers are contorted to resemble names of politicians and surnames written in Hindi.

For instance, number 4749 is written in way to resemble the word Modi in Hindi’s Devnagri script. Similarly, 4149 serves to project Yadav.

While these designer number plates violate the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act  — that stipulates the size and type of the font in which registration numbers are to be painted — transport and  police department officials are wary of initiating action due to the “political clout” of the offenders.

Some of the variations seen on number plates are simply hilarious. A motorcycle has everything except the registration number. It reads thus — “Vidhayak Mahesh Trivedi, cousin Rajan Trivedi, Gift Anshuman Agarwal”. The actual registration number is written in a tiny font at the end of the number plate that is painted in saffron and green, instead of the mandatory black and white.

Another motorcycle has “All India Press Editor” printed in red in the first row of the number plate with the registration number crunched in the second row.

An Ambassador car owner has done away with the number plate and replaced it with a signboard that says Poorv Lal Batti Dharak which means a former allottee of a red beacon – symbol of holding a government post.

There are also number plates in which 2144 is written in a mix of Roman and Devnagri to read as Ram in Hindi. Similarly, 8055 is written in a way to resemble “BOSS” in English.

A car owner’s fancy number plate gave the police some nervous moments as he experimented with number 1515. The number 1515 was written in a manner that it looked like “ISIS”. On getting information, the police went into a tizzy and tracked down the car with suspected “terror” link. The owner was asked to change the number plate and apologise.

In the previous Samajwadi Party’s government, it was a common trend to write “Yadav” written on vehicle registration number plates.

Motorist Rajiv Yadav, a post graduate student in Lucknow University, admitted that he had got his surname written on his two-wheeler.

“It saves me from traffic constable when I break the traffic rules,” he said.

A senior transport official admitted that violations of the rules were on the rise but said that it was up to the traffic police to book the offenders. “We cannot directly intervene in the matter,” he said.

 Traffic officials, on the other hand, said that the cops often avoid imposing fine in these cases since the vehicles invariably belong to those with political connections.

“It is only people with clout who insist on such tricks. Normal people would not do such things and invite trouble” said an assistant superintendent of police.

Despite the exit of the Samajwadi Party from the seat of power in the state, its supporters continue to flaunt their link with the former first family of the state comprising Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

“Yadav” on vehicles’ registration plates continues to give a sense of pride to the owners and most of them have retained the word despite the fall of the Samajwadi Party.

A luxury car bears the registration number UP 65 CM 4149 but while all letters are small “CM” is highlighted in extra large font and the number has been written to read like “Yadav” in Hindi.  At first glance, it reads CM Yadav and on the top of the number, in a smaller font, is written “Akhilesh”. Thus, the complete message reads “CM Akhilesh Yadav”. UP 65, incidentally, is the district code for Varanasi – a stronghold of the BJP.

Another car owner, who did not wish to be identified, said that such number plates make it difficult for the cops to note down the registration number for a fine, in case the fleeing vehicle breaks a traffic rule.

Number plate manufactures often charge twice the normal rate for such fancy ones. “It takes time to contort the letters and numbers so we charge extra,” said one dealer in vehicle accessories. He added that he could not be held responsible for violating the law since the owners demand such changes.