The court docket refused to listen to the matter and allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea
New Delhi:
Rejecting a request for a ban on namesake candidates in elections, the Supreme Courtroom immediately stated it can not cease folks from contesting polls if they’re named after political leaders.
Petitioner Sabu Stephen had moved a public curiosity litigation, arguing that namesake candidates are propped up in high-profile seats to mislead voters. The petitioner pressured that the presence of such candidates has usually led to heavyweight candidates shedding by a slim margin. The petition sought a path to the Election Fee of India to take pressing steps to cease this pattern within the curiosity of a free and honest election course of.
Refusing to listen to the matter, Justice BR Gavai stated, “If mother and father have given related names to candidates, how can they be prevented from contesting polls? Like Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav.” The court docket allowed the petitioner to withdraw the petition.
Namesake candidates are a part of an age-old election trick by which candidates with names just like that of a heavyweight are propped up by rival events. The concept is to confuse voters and get them to vote for the namesakes, successfully harming the heavyweight.
A case in query is the Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, also called OPS, is contesting as an Unbiased this time. In addition to the previous AIADMK chief, there are 4 different Panneerselvams within the checklist of candidates. They’re Ochappan Panneerselvam, Oyya Thevar Panneerselvam, Ocha Thevar Panneerselvam, and Oyyaram Panneerselvam — all of them Unbiased candidates.
The experiment is being tried in different states too. In Maharashtra’s Raigad seat, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has fielded Anant Geete. He’s up towards NCP’s Sunil Tatkare. However two extra Anant Geetes have signed for the ballot combat as Independents.
