Learn about the guy from Tamil Nadu who was dubbed “Election King” despite having lost 238 elections

As they say, winners write history. But in the instance of an Indian competitor, he wrote his name into the Limca Book of Records by finishing on the losing side each time he attempted to win. The narrative centres on K Padmarajan, a citizen of Mettur in Tamil Nadu who has run for office 238 times and failed each and every time. Even though he lost a lot of money, time, and effort, he still tried his luck by running for everything from the presidency to municipal elections.

Padmarajan’s life
Although he made his reputation for losing the most elections in his career, Padmarajan, 65, is regarded as “Election King” after making his political debut in 1988. He has already participated in 238 elections, and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 from Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, would be his 239th. When he ran in the 2011 Mettur Assembly elections, he earned 6,273 votes, which was his best showing to date.

He was India’s most failed candidate, having lost so many elections that his name was included to the Limca Book of Records.

He has fallen short against Congressman Rahul Gandhi, previous prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, and current prime minister Narendra Modi throughout the years.

millions of rupees were spent on elections
Each candidate in the Indian elections must deposit a particular sum, which he forfeits if he receives less than sixteen percent of the vote. Padmarajan has spent thousands of rupees in expenses since he began running for office. He has reportedly already spent more than Rs 1 crore on the polls.

Padmarajan will battle once again in 2024
Padmarajan, who has lost 238 attempts to win public office, is getting ready to run for parliament again starting on April 19.

As per the accounts, he was ridiculed by the public when he threw in his hat, but his goal was to demonstrate that a regular guy could run for office.

Reports state that in addition to working as an editor for local media, he also owns a tyre repair business and offers homoeopathic cures.