CHENNAI — General secretaries of several Tamil Nadu regional parties confirmed Wednesday that the process of temporarily dissolving their political identities to contest on a larger ally’s symbol is a “purely administrative formality” that in no way suggests they have been swallowed whole.

The clarification comes as principal parties DMK and AIADMK begin the quinquennial tradition of informing their smaller partners that their own party symbols—ranging from hats to pressure cookers—are technically too confusing for the average voter to look at for more than three seconds.

“It is a matter of practical necessity,” said one alliance candidate, who spent the morning wearing a scarf with his own party’s colors while handing out flyers featuring a different party’s rising sun. “By declaring myself a member of the principal party on Form B, I am not abandoning my roots. I am simply entering a legal cocoon where I pretend to be someone else until the counting is over. It is very much like method acting, but with better pension schemes.”

Election observers noted that the practice, which has faced multiple challenges in the Madras High Court, continues to thrive because it solves the “identity crisis” of having too many choices. Under the current system, a voter who spent twenty years hating a specific party can now comfortably vote for them, provided the candidate is actually a secret member of a different party they happen to like.

“We are very protective of our independent identity,” said a spokesperson for a party allotted two seats. “That is why we have agreed to contest on the lotus symbol in the north and the two-leaves symbol in the south, depending on which one has more brand equity in that particular taluk. Our ideology remains 100% intact, even if our name doesn't appear on the ballot, the posters, or the electronic voting machine.”

When asked how a candidate can legally claim to be a member of two parties simultaneously, a senior official from the Records Division noted that the paperwork is “flexible.”

“The Form B is a sacred document,” the official said. “It requires the candidate to swear they are a member of the party whose symbol they are using. If they happen to be the president of a different party at the same time, we assume they are just a very enthusiastic multi-tasker.”

At the time of press, three smaller parties were reportedly negotiating a deal where they would contest on a principal party's symbol in exchange for being allowed to keep their own letterhead for wedding invitations and funeral posters.