Will namesakes spoil the party?

Nominees of mainstream political parties are likely to lose sleep over the presence of numerous namesake candidates in many Assembly constituencies in Kozhikode district.

As many as 28 namesakes are in the fray this time in almost all 13 constituencies except Elathur segment.

Once upon a time the namesakes entered the electoral arena on personal grounds but now they have been employed as a line of attack against rivals in close contests.

In Vadakara, Revolutionary Marxist Party candidate K.K. Rema, wife of the slain party founder T.P. Chandrasekharan would be identified as K.K. Rema T.P. House on the ballot paper as there are two other Remas, T.P. Rema and K.K. Rema Kunyil, in fray.

Sitting legislator C.K. Nanu of Janata Dal (Secular) has to face T.K. Nanu while his rival , Manayath Chandran of Janata Dal (Union), Madapparambathu Chandran and Mathath Chandran.

Parakkal Abdulla, IUML nominee, who is pitted against sitting CPI (M) legislator K.K. Lathika, also has to confront Palliyil Abdulla, Parakkal Abdulla Palliyath and Parommal Abdulla, all independents.

Similarly is the case with K. Praveen Kumar, Congress candidate at Nadapuram, where there are two other Praveens- Praveen Rayaroth Thazhakuni and Praveen Kumar Thaiyulathil.

Here the CPI candidate E.K.Vijayan has company with an independent, E.K. Vijayan Komath, in the fray.

At Koyilandy, sitting legislator, K.Dasan of CPI (M) has a namesake, P.K. Dasan, while N. Subramanian, Congress nominee, has a namesake N.M. Subramanian.

Likewise, at Perambra, Mohammed Iqbal of KC (M), has namesakes, Mohammed Iqbal Pallath and Mohammed Iqbal Bappu Baith and at Balussery, U.C. Raman, IUML-backed independent, has to face an independent candidate Raman.

In the prestigious Kozhikode North, both main candidates, A. Pradeepkumar of CPI (M) and P.M. Suresh Babu of Congress, will have to face two independents, E. Pradeep Kumar and T. Suresh Babu.

The neighbouring urban constituency of Kozhikode South, Minister for Social Justice, M.K. Muneer, has two namesakes, Muneer and Abdul Muneer, while Abdul Wahab of INL has the company of A.P.Abdul Wahab.

Mayor V.K.C. Mammed Koya, has to tackle an independent, V.K. Mammed Koya while Congress candidate, M.P. Adam Mulsi, two Adams, K.V. Adam and Adam Malik.

Three independent Siddiques - T.P. Siddique, P. Siddique , Abubaker Siddique – are in the fray where Congress nominee T. Siddique in locked in a fierce contest with sitting MLA, P.T.A. Rahim, an LDF –backed independent at Kunnamangalam.

However, Mr. Rahim also faces a namesake- K.P. Rahim.

The contest at Koduvally is mainly between M.A.Razak Master of IUML and Karat Razak, an LDF backed IUML rebel.

However the two Razaks, also have to deal with an independent, Razak, K.T. Abdul Razak, in the constituency.

In Thiruvambadi, V.M. Ummer Master of IUML, has two namesakes, V.Ummer and C.M. Ummer.

As many as 28 namesakes are in the fray this time in all constituencies except Elathur