Dummy candidates spoil the cake for deserving contenders

Well, this duplication happens even during the elections to dupe the voters and divert votes. Surprising but true, during the election people having similar names to that of the major contenders are fielded as independent candidates by opponent parties to confuse the voters.

This trend has been observed over the last few elections and the same trend continues even during this election. While these duplicate candidates do not pose the threat of defeating the candidate whose name they duplicate, they certainly serve the purpose of eating away the votes.

There are few others who merely wish to proclaim themselves as contesting in the elections. These dummy candidates extract the votes that would otherwise go in favour of deserving candidates. The voting public struggle to decide whom to vote, and exercise their votes for such dummy candidates in confusion.

In 2008, Congress candidate B Ramanath Rai had won the MLA seat from Bantwal constituency after defeating Nagaraj Shetty of Bharatiya Janata Party by a very small margin of 1,251 votes.

Incidentally, an independent candidate named Ramanath Pai had contested in the same constituency, who had received 2,544 votes. These votes in favour of the independent candidate may have reduced the winning margin for Ramanath Rai.

If the BJP has fielded Umanath Kotian as the candidate from Moodbidri constituency this time, an independent candidate Umanath Suvarna has also entered the fray. While the Congress has fielded thrice-elected Abhayachandra Jain in the same constituency, another independent Abhayakumar Jain has also joined the fray.

Similarly, BJP candidate Angara has been elected as MLA for four times from Sullia. All the while, opposing parties had been waiting for an opportunity to hinder his win for the fifth time in the elections. This time, the list of candidates in Sullia features another Angara contesting as an independent candidate. While BJP's candidate is Angara S, the independent is A Angara!

Quite a number of times, opposition parties take great pains to search for candidates with similar names to try and divide the votes which would otherwise lead to the victory of candidates from rival political parties.