What’s In a Name? Spoiler Candidates Hamper Poll: India Votes

(Bloomberg) --

Rahul Gandhi, president of the main opposition Congress party, will not only have to compete with two serious contenders but several others who share his famous last name.

He will fight independent candidate K.E. Rahul Gandhi, little-known regional party member K. Raghul Gandhi and another independent candidate who goes by the name of K.M. Shivprasad Gandhi, along with others in Wayanad in the southern state of Kerala. The final list of candidates will be drawn up on Monday, the last date for withdrawal.

Gandhi is contesting from Kerala, along with his traditional Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Read more: Candidates in India often compete for two seats at the same time.

Rivals field dummy candidates in a bid to confuse voters at the polling booth, thereby reducing their chances of winning. In some cases, these candidates are put up to circumvent the ceiling on election spending.

In Maharashtra's Hingoli constituency, Congress candidate Subhash Wankhede is facing as many as five namesakes. In the last election in 2014, Bollywood actress Hema Malini faced another independent candidate with a similar name, while Chandu Lal Sahu of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party faced 10 namesakes in his constituency in Chhattisgarh state.

As part of electoral reforms, the Election Commission is using candidate's photographs along with symbols for the first time to curb this menace.

WHAT TO WATCH:

• BJP to release its manifesto Monday
• Congress promises to provide 72,000 rupees ($1,046) annually to poor families
• India's communist party to halt sale of state companies if it wins elections

POLITICAL ALLIANCES:

IN THE MEDIA:

• Congress launches campaign song and slogan for general election: PTI
• BJP says choice between decisive Modi & opposition chaos in campaign theme: PTI
• Enforcement agencies must act neutrally, election commission says: HT

ELECTION & MARKETS:

• In Uttar Pradesh, that sends maximum lawmakers to the Indian parliament, BJP has a slight edge at the moment, research analysts of Motilal Oswal, said in a note dated April 4 after a road trip to the most populous state.
• How to diversify as India vote rocks most-expensive Asian stocks

LATEST COMMENTS:

• "If the prime minister was serious about the welfare of the poor, they would not have been inaugurating schemes after polls were announced. They would have performed during their five years,” Mayawati, leader of Bahujan Samaj Party, said at a rally on Sunday.
• “Joblessness in Tamil Nadu is a concern,” said T.K.S. Elangovan, a spokesman for the Congress party's partner Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Chennai, adding he expects the BJP to lose 150 seats from its 2014 tally. “Engineers have no jobs and are going to work for Swiggy as food delivery boys.”
• "Truth is a powerful thing. I challenge you to a debate on corruption,” Gandhi said in a tweet to Modi.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVES:

• India's ‘Silent' Water Crisis High in the Mind of Voters
• Congress Party Reminds Modi What Reform Looks Like: Mihir Sharma
• A Murky Flood of Money Pours Into the World's Largest Election
• The Wrong Way to Fight Fake News Ahead of Elections: Editorial
• Why India's Election Is Among the World's Most Expensive
• Inside India's Colossal, Colorful, Tough-to-Predict Election
• Modi Hopes $27 Billion Bet on Women Will Swing Election His Way

ECONOMY:

• India Central Bank Cuts Key Rate to Boost Flagging Economy
• India's Central Bank to Issue New Rules on Bad Debt Resolution

EARLIER STORIES:

• Major Parties Spooked as More Indians Vote ‘None of the Above'
• India Opposition Leader Gandhi Pledges to End Poverty by 2030
• Modi vs Who? India's Ruling Party Pushes Presidential Election
  Quotas Set to Change the Balance of Power for Women in India
• Young, Angry and ‘Untouchable': India's Low-Caste Threat to Modi
• Tackling Rising Hate Speech in the World's Biggest Election
• India's Gen Z Voters' Call for 2019 Election: More Jobs, Please

QUICKTAKE:

• Your Guide to India's Upcoming General Election
• Why Election Goodies Await India's Struggling Farmers
• Why India's Lower Castes Could Hold Key to Election

--With assistance from Ganesh Nagarajan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni Krishnan

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