Namesake candidates clutter Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra

This practice is part of an age-old political trick to deceive voters who might inadvertently choose the wrong candidate and divert votes especially in seats where the contest is very close

As the election fervour intensifies in the state, political parties are leaving no stone unturned to cut into the votes of opposition candidates. Over the past few years, to confuse voters rival contestants have been fielding candidates with identical or near-identical names as that of the opponent and this year is no exception.

According to political observers, the trend is overall in the entire Maharashtra, especially in seats where contest is very close. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

This practice is part of an age-old political trick to deceive voters who might inadvertently choose the wrong candidate and divert votes especially in seats where the contest is very close.

For instance, in Raigad parliamentary seat, former Union minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anant Geete and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sunil Tatkare have filed their nominations. However, two more candidates named Anant Geete have filed nominations as independent candidates.

“There is a high possibility that voters who want to vote for former minister Geete may vote for the independent candidates resembling the same name. This is likely to damage the vote share of the Maha Vika Aghadi (MVA) candidate, Geete,” said a leader from Shiv Sena (UBT) camp.

Sule is the daughter of NCP Leader Sharad Pawar, and the surname Pawar is popular in the constituency, which has been family’s stronghold for five decades.

Interestingly another independent candidate named Sharad Pawar has filed his nomination from Baghtoy Rickshawala Sanghatna.

The identical name candidate Pawar who is an autorickshaw driver said, “The well-wishers and family members of autorickshaw, mini trucks and cab union along with food delivery boys will vote for me.”

“This may confuse voters in the constituency and voters may vote for auto union candidate Pawar, thinking it’s the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar,” said Amit Deshmukh, a voter from Baramati.

In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency, there is an independent candidate Vinayak Raut who is namesake for Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Vinayak Raut. The Sena nominee here is locked in a fierce battle against Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Narayan Rane.

In Kolhapur too, there are two candidates with names Shahu and Mandlik. Their surnames resemble those of Congress candidate Chhatrapati Shahu and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Mandlik.

The neighbouring Hatkanangle constituency has four candidates with Mane as a surname. Arvind Mane, Rajendra Mane, Parshuram Mane are the three independents while Dhairyasheel Mane is from Shiv Sena. The Sena candidate is locked in a triangular contest here against farmers leader Raju Shetti and Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Satyajeet Patil.

In Solapur, a candidate Sushil Shinde is contesting polls against Praniti Shinde of Congress and Ram Satpute of BJP. Sushil Shinde’s name resembles that of Praniti’s father and senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Prakash Pawar, political observer, said, “This trend started 20 to 25 years back and has become a known method in the close contests where winning side may enjoy only a slight margin of votes.”

“Making a candidate contest an election with identical names or candidates from specific communities or surnames is a trending trick to mislead voters. The voters get misled resulting in diverting the votes of the original candidate,” he added.

According to Prakash, the trend is overall in the entire Maharashtra, especially in seats where contest is very close.

“In Maharashtra in past assembly elections, over 20 MLAs won the election with a difference of 1,000 votes and 20 candidates lost by 1,000 votes. This gives a picture of the damage namesake candidates can do in an election when every single vote counts,” he added.

Another observer said, political parties and politicians frequently look for namesakes and then support their election expenses to oppose them in constituencies where there is a close contest, and a slight margin of votes could swing the elections.

While the impact of these identical candidates varies, they cause significant damage to voting share in constituencies with a close contest.