Namesakes galore in Haryana Assembly elections

Chandigarh, Oct 12: Seventeen of the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, which will go to polls on October 15, have candidates with the same names, causing a concern among contestants who see it as a ploy by oppoisition parties to confuse voters.

Among the constituencies where namesakes are in the fray are Thansear, Indri, Gharaunda, Israna (R), Sonipat, Jind, Rania, Adampur, Narnaund, Barwala, Dadri, Garhi Sampal Kiloi, Bahadurgarh, Gurgaon, Sohana and Badhkal.

[Full Coverage: Haryana assembly elections 2014]

Candidates of almost all major parties like BJP, INLD, Congress, Haryana Janhit Congress, Haryana Lokhit Party and BSP are facing namesakes.

Though the voting machine displays the party symbols of all contestants against their names, candidates are concerned about the possibility of identical or near-identical names confusing the voters. INLD president Ashok Arora, seeking re-election from Thanesar, is facing an Independent candidate Ashok among the 14 contestants in the seat. The scenario is worse for Raj Singh Mor, INLD candidate from Narnaud.

Besides Captain Abhimanyu of BJP, he is up against three Independent candidates with the name Raj Singh. While two of the Raj Singhs are farmers, another claims to be doing private job. Raj Singh Mor is a retired IPS officer. At Israna (R) seat, BJP's Krishan Lal is locking horns with another Krishan of CPI, among nine candidates for the seat.

In Sonipat constituency, where Kavita Jain is the BJP contestant, there are two Independent candidates named Kavita in the fray. Jain, who is the sitting MLA from the constituency, said fielding of namesakes is a cheap ploy used by opposition parties to cut into her votes. "However, people of the constituency are not fools.

They can see through the tricks of the opposition," she said. BJP for the first time is testing electoral waters in Haryana on its own.

Dharambir of Dharambir Gaba of Congress is facing another Dharambir of BSP from Gurgaon seat among the 18 contestants. In Barwala, Congress candidate Ramniwas is up against Ramniwas of HJC among the 18 candidates in fray from the seat. At Dadri seat, Jaivir of Samajwadi Party is facing Jaivir of HLP.

From Garhi Sampla Kiloi seat, Suresh of BSP is facing another Independent candidate Suresh. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is among the 15 contestants in the fray from this seat. HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is contesting from his traditional bastion Adampur, is facing another Kuldeep, an Independent candidate.

Similarly, in Radaur seat, Gopal Kanda-led HLP's Kuldeep is facing another Kuldeep of Haryana Kranti Dal. HJC's Rakesh Kamboj is locked with another Rakesh who is an Independent candidate among the 13 contestants from the seat. At the Gharaunda seat, there are three Karan Singhs in the fray among the 14 contestants.

These are--one from HLP and other two Independents. In Jind, considered to be the Jat heartland of the state, where 17 candidates are in fray for the seat, there are two different namesakes. HJC's Ramesh Kumar is fighting it out against Ramesh of CPI(M) and Surinder Barwala, who shifted from Congress to BJP, is facing another Surinder, an Independent candidate.

There are two Jagdish in the fray from Rania. One is fighting on BJP ticket while the other on HJC. At Bahadurgarh seat, Sandeep of HLP is locking horns with Sandeep of RPI, among the 17 contestants in the constituency. Besides, two Tejpals are trying their luck from Sohana. One of them is a BJP candidate while another is Independent.

At the Badkhal seat, two Chander Bhatias are facing each other among the 13 contestants. One of them is fighting on INLD ticket, while other is in the fray as an Independent candidate.

PTI