Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors is playing out in Rajasthan—albeit on the electoral stage. Candidates with names similar to candidates of the two major parties are in the fray. There’s a distinct possibility that a vote for one of the two major candidates might be unwittingly cast for one of the namesakes instead.

Some high-profile candidates have been unwillingly drawn into this. In Bikaner, where Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is contesting for the third time, he faces another unheard-of Arjun Ram. 

Arjun Ram Meghwal

In Jhunjhunu, Shravan Kumar of the Congress faces an out-of-the-blue Shravan Kumar. In Churu, Congress candidate Rafique Mandelia faces Moh Rafique.

Rafique Mandelia

But the public isn’t taking this too seriously. In Bikaner, Churu and Jhunjhunu, the general opinion is that the independents have jumped into the fray for some fun. Wagers are being made on how many tickets they’ll be able to secure. On the flipside, it could be a cause of concern for the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Remember, in the 2018 Assembly elections in the state, the vote difference between the two parties was only 0.5 per cent—just about three votes per booth.

There’s always the possibility that these “namesake” candidates are being fielded by opponents—hushed conversations hint at a “deal” that has been struck. This gains momentum from the fact that none of these candidates have ever been seen campaigning and the public is unaware of their presence in the electoral fray.     

Yet the strangest—possibly most piteous—situation is that of Khimsar MLA Hanuman Beniwal, who is contesting as an NDA candidate on the Nagaur parliamentary seat. This three-time MLA had been a BJP candidate when he first contested in 2003. After prolonged differences with former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and a subsequent fallout with her, he reached the Rajasthan Assembly as an independent legislator in 2008. Spewing venom against both Raje and Ashok Gehlot, Beniwal formed his own party, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. Three MLAs, including Hanuman, won the elections.

Hanuman Beniwal

It was a ghar wapsi of sorts when the RLP entered into an alliance with the BJP and became a part of the NDA. The BJP forfeited contesting from the Nagaur seat, handing it over to the RLP. Hanuman was all set to “strengthen Modi’s hands” when he was struck by a bolt from the blue. His party’s election symbol—a plastic bottle, that he has struggled hard to establish among his supporters—was replaced with four tyres.

That wasn’t all. Another man named Hanuman Beniwal filed his nomination from Nagaur. This Hanuman is a resident of Shergarh in Jodhpur and is a candidate of an obscure Gujarat-based party called the Rashtriya Power Party—a name quite similar to the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party—and its election symbol is the same plastic bottle that was the RLP’s in Assembly polls.

“It is a political conspiracy. I cannot understand how a Gujarat-based party that is not contesting in Gujarat has been allocated my symbol to fight in Rajasthan. Now this man whose name is similar to mine is contesting from Nagaur. This is too much of a coincidence. But I will not fall prey to such petty games, whoever is playing them,” said Hanuman the original. His speeches now make it a point to emphasise that tyres are needed to drive to Delhi.

EVMs carry party symbols alongside the names of party candidates, but there’s no refuting the fact that there’s a chance that even a small number of voters might vote for the wrong candidate. And that’s all it might take to spoil the precariously-balanced equations.