'Name Game' politics: Three namesakes of Sumalatha file nominations in Mandya

Bengaluru: The high profile, high- pitched battle between Sumalatha Ambareesh and Nikhil Kumaraswamy for Mandya Lok Sabha seat has just gotten more interesting with three more women, sharing Sumalatha’s name filing their nominations papers in Mandya on Tuesday.

Sumalatha P from Kanakapura, Sumalatha from KR Pet and Sumalatha M from Srirangapatna filed their nomination papers as Independent candidates on Tuesday.

According to sources, the three women are said to be workers of JD(S) thus hinting that the party may have adopted to the name game tricks to counter the overwhelming support that the actress has been receiving, which was evident when supporters gathered in large numbers when Sumalatha filed her nominations recently.

The ‘name game’ is one of the oldest tricks adopted by political parties to confuse voters about the rival candidate while they casting votes.

Sumalatha does not have a dedicated symbol, as is the case with recognized political parties and will have to choose a symbol which is suitable and can be identified by rural voters. However, the solace for the actress is that there would a passport size picture of her in the EVMs that would help voters identify her at the time of voting.