Remarkably, prominent contenders are challenging their namesakes in Bengaluru Rural

In the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat, five Manjunaths and three Sureshs will square off. While all eyes will be on the “prestige battle” between Dr. CN Manjunath of the BJP and Congressman DK Suresh, other contenders have also entered the race and are fighting for the support of the constituency’s voters, including C, N, and K Manjunath.

But this is not unique to any one constituency, nor is it an isolated incident. There are two other Sudhakars in Chikkaballapura, where Dr. K. Sudhakar, a BJP politician and former minister, is standing against Raksha Ramaiah of the Congress. D. Sudhkar and K. Sudhakar are running as independent candidates.

Kota Shrinivas Poojary, a BJP member from the Udupi-Chikkamagluru seat, is accompanied by Suresh and Supreeth Poojary. Comparably, Congressman Muddahanumegowda will compete with Hanumaiah, who has a similar name, for votes.

Two candidates are running in Bengaluru North: a male candidate named Shobhan Babu V and an independent named Shobha Kharandlaje, who is the Union Minister for the BJP. In the seat, independent candidate Mukthar Ali Khan will face off against Congress candidate Mansoor Ali Khan.

Yadurappa, an independent, has joined the race from the Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat, where the BJP has put up Yaduveer Wadiyar, a scion of the former Mysuru royal family.

It’s interesting to note that someone going by the name of HD Revanna is running in the Lok Sabha seats of Hassan and Mandya, where JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy and former minister Prajwal are running, respectively.

Many of them, according to a prominent lawmaker, will leave the fight if they are offered money. “They will cause confusion, but they might not hurt the chances of the winning candidates,” he said.