Bengaluru, 3 April

As the first phase of nominations filing came to an end on Thursday, Bengaluru Rural constituency saw five Manjunaths throwing their hats into the political ring for Lok Sabha elections. The first phase of elections in the State will be held on 26 April for the Lok Sabha polls.

This tactical move is said to weaken the support for the popular candidate as it makes a mockery of the electoral process. BJP fielded Dr CN Manjunath, renowned cardiologist and son-in-law of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who is making his political debut. He is pitted against sitting Congress MP DK Suresh.

With multiple namesakes in the fray against him, BJP candidate Dr CN Manjunath said that these are old strategies which "show panic" in the rival camp. “I will not call it anything else but strategy,” said Dr Manjunath, a renowned cardiologist, who was the director of the government-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology.

Dr Manjunath has many namesakes as a competitors in this election. The nearest is Manjunatha CN who is a native of Channarayapatna in Hassan district, whose father's name is Nanjundappa. Dr Manjunath’s father’s name is Nanjappa. The passport photographs of both these candidates show them in a black blazer and tie. Bahujan Bharat Party fielded Manjunatha CN and he holds a doctorate in social service from Global Human University. However, BJP has alleged that Bahujan Barat Party has issued a fake university certificate and is planning to lodge a complaint with election authorities.

Other namesakes are Manjunath K from Papareddypalya in Bengaluru, N Manjunatha from Rajajinagar in Bengaluru and Manjunath C from Shakti Garden in Mudalapalya in Bengaluru. “People are wise, educated and thoughtful. They know that I am contesting on the lotus symbol from a national party BJP as an NDA candidate,” Dr Manjunath said. He ruled out the chances of any confusion that the presence of many namesakes would create among voters.

Dr Manjunath is the son-in-law of former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and brother-in-law of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. BJP and JD(S) entered into an alliance in September last year.

Similar namesake incidents were also seen in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when popular actor Hema Malini was contesting from Mathura constituency; she was up against another Hema Malini.

In 2019, when Rahul Gandhi was contesting from the Wayanad constituency, he was pitted against another Rahul Gandhi and one more Raghul Gandhi. In 2023, when HD Revanna, a legislator of Janata Dal (Secular) contested from Holenarasipur constituency, he was up against another HD Revanna from Purvanchal Mahapanchayat party.