Aurangabad: Resorting to the age-old tactic of confusing voters and diverting votes, political rivals of Subhash Wankhede have fielded as many as five namesakes of the Congress candidate from Hingoli Lok Sabha constituency.Incidentally, two such candidates pitted against Wankhede during last Lok Sabha election had garnered 12,441 votes between them. The diversion of votes severely dented the chances of Wankhede, then fighting as Shiv Sena candidate, against Congress nominee Rajiv Satav. Wankhede lost the polls by a wafer-thin margin of 1,632 votes.Both these candidates are against in the fray this time too. Balaji Wankhede, a local BJP leader from Hingoli, who has been instrumental in arranging dummy candidates, said all namesakes of Wankhede have a farming background.“Two dummy candidates hail from Umbarkhed in Yavatmal district and Aundha taluka of Hingoli district each, while another one is from Hingoli. Two of these candidates had fought polls against Wankhede during last Lok Sabha election also and hold good experience,” he said.Stating that there is nothing wrong or unethical in fielding dummy candidates, Balaji said the practice of backing namesake candidates to beat the opponents is observed across the country. “We are not violating any rule of the Election Commission of India while fielding dummy candidates,” he said.Besides Subhash Bapurao Wankhede of Shiv Sena, Subhash Nagorao Wankhede, Subhash Parasram Wankhede, Subhash Kashiba Wankhede, Subhas Maruti Wankhede and Subhash Vithhal Wankhede are contesting the Lok Sabha election from Hingoli seat this time, official data shows.ToI tried to contact some of these dummy candidates using the mobile numbers registered in the poll affidavit, but their family members responded to calls.A local Congress leader said dummy candidates almost go underground after filing nominations. “Majority of dummy candidates file their nomination as an independent for monetary gains. The deal gets struck for a few lakh rupees. They disappear after filing the nomination in order avoid wrath of their namesake from the established party. There is no question of poll campaigning and these candidates appear only after result,” he said, preferring anonymity.Sanjay Bondhare, Hingoli unit Congress president, said the poll tactic of fielding dummy candidate to eat into votes of major candidate would be less effective during the upcoming election.“As announced by the Election Commission, EVMs would carry a photograph of all candidates to help voters identify those in the fray. The move will negate the menace of ill-motivated dummy candidate. Let us hope that the candidate’s picture appearing on EVMs are of good quality,” he said.

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