Parties use dummy candidates to muddle voters' minds

Bengaluru’s 28 Assembly constituencies have 389 candidates in the fray, a significant number of them are not genuine contenders.

Yelahanka has the maximum of 20 candidates, while Shanthinagar and CV Raman Nagar constituencies have the least with 10 each.

A majority of the constituencies witness a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP, while the Janata Dal (Secular) is also a formidable force in the Dasarahalli, Yeshwantpur, Yelahanka and Gandhinagar Assembly segments. Some Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates are expected to give a good fight in CV Raman Nagar and Shanthinagar.

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Yelahanka has four nominees in the name Munegowda, including the JD(S) candidate, while two have the name Vishwanath, including the BJP’s S R Vishwanath. Fielding people with the same names has been a known tactic parties use to confuse voters.

With 18 and 17 candidates respectively, Rajajinagar and Byatarayanapura also have a large number of candidates in the fray.

Besides the Congress’ Puttanna, another candidate by the same name has filed his nomination in Rajajinagar. Barring the national parties and the JD(S), several candidates in Byatarayanapura represent unknown parties.

An independent Sowmya Reddy has been fielded in Jayanagar, apart from the Congress candidate with the same name to confuse the voters.

Meanwhile, in Vijayanagar, three candidates with the name similar to the BJP’s nominee appear in the list, while in BTM Layout three more candidates with the name Sridhar feature in the list of contestants besides BJP’s K R Sridhar.

On average, every constituency has 12 to 14 candidates in the fray. A glance at the list would reveal some independents have been fielded to split votes of the stronger candidate.