Namesakes may play spoilsport in Kerala

Congress candidate and sitting MP from Kannur Lok Sabha constituency K Sudhakaran may have plenty of reasons to feel bullish about his poll prospects, but he will also be wary of two independent candidates from the same constituency who have also registered themselves as K Sudhakaran.

His opponent, CPI(M)’s P K Sreemathy, has to contend with an independent candidate in the name Sreemathi Puthalath.

In the past, namesakes of prominent candidates, beyond offering interesting trivia, have dealt serious blows to the prospects of many sure-shot Kerala leaders in the elections.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V M Sudheeran should know better. Sudheeran, coming after three successive wins from the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency, lost in 2004 to K S Manoj, a Left-backed independent by only 1,009 votes.

Spoiling Sudheeran’s party was another independent candidate – V S Sudheeran – who polled more than 8,000 votes.

In this Lok Sabha elections, more than 30 independent candidates are trying to make the most of their shared names in 15 of the 20 constituencies. CPI(M)-backed independent candidate V Abdurahiman from Ponnani, Congress candidate M K Raghavan from Kozhikode and the CPI(M)’s Alathur candidate P K Biju find three independents with the same name contesting in their respective seats.

CPI(M) nominees A N Shamseer (Vadakara), A Vijayaraghavan (Kozhikode) and C B Chandrababu (Alappuzha), CPI(M)-backed independent Joyce George (Idukki), CPI’s Sathyan Mokeri (Wayanad) and RSP’s N K Premachandran (Kollam) have two other candidates of same name in the fray.

One of the other Premachandrans has made it clear that he is not in the election just to do a spoof. Belonging to the Congress, he has fielded himself to protest the candidate of his namesake from RSP, which has switched sides from LDF to UDF.