In Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Faces a Peculiar Problem: Dummy Candidates
New Delhi: Imagine you are a voter in the Razole assembly constituency of Andhra Pradesh. You want to vote for the candidate Rajeswara Rao. You enter the poll booth, and there are two Rajeswara Raos. Both their last names are Bonthu. You check their party symbols. One has the ceiling fan, while the other has the rotor blades of a helicopter. Which Rajeswara Rao did you want to vote for?
In many constituencies of Andhra Pradesh, voters may actually face this dilemma. The Praja Shanthi Party (PSP), a little-known party established by evangelist-politician K.A. Paul, has fielded at least 19 candidates whose names are very similar to those of the YSR Congress party.
Paul, once dubbed the “world’s most popular evangelist”, is an eccentric pastor who has claimed – among other things – that he negotiated with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to accept the US’s demands during the civil war. He claims to have worked as a spiritual advisor to other dictators such as Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor.
K.A. Paul with Muammar Gaddafi. Credit: Global Peace Initiative
Though his party was established in 2008, it has largely been inactive. In fact, Paul has taken a more proactive approach to American politics, endorsing Barack Obama in 2008 and Donald Trump in 2016. Based as he was in Houston, Paul endorsed both the men because of their opposition to the Iraq war.
In India, he last made national headlines in 2012, when he was arrested for conspiring to murder a man accused in his brother’s murder. At the time, he had accused Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy of conspiring to send him to jail. He has since obtained a stay order in the case.
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Now, with the state elections in Andhra Pradesh predicted to have a close finish, Paul has decided to jump into the fray. However, his party’s gimmicks have resulted in it being dubbed as the ruling-Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) “dummy”. Critics claim that his only goal is to “confuse” voters and chip away at the YSR Congress party’s votes. Apart from fielding candidates whose names are similar to those contesting on the main opposition party’s ticket, Paul’s party logo and colours also mirror the YSR Congress party.
Perhaps as a token gesture to his party's election symbol, Paul's manifesto says that the party will provide air ambulance services via helicopter.
A comparison of PSP and YSR Congress's symbol and colours. Credit: The Wire
Paul, however, is having none of the criticism. He claims because the YSR Congress party was established four years after the PSP, it is in fact Y.S. Jagan who has “copied” his party’s colours and symbol. He has also contested claims that he is working on behalf of the state’s chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, stating, “I have criticised Naidu more than I have criticised Jagan.”
Meanwhile, an enraged YSR Congress Party has shot off a complaint to the Election Commission, asking it to take action against Paul’s party and also cancelling the ‘helicopter’ symbol allotted to it. The poll panel hasn’t responded yet.