Double Politicians (#174)
Yesterday's fact was about double coconuts, today's about double politicians. Ever heard of Chandu Lal Sahu? The correct answer would be: "Yes, but which one do you mean?"
Let me explain.
As we all know, politicians tend to get really crafty when it comes to maximizing votes. There are many tactics on how to achieve this, but one of them is to confuse your opponent's voters. This is what happened 2014 in India: A politician called Chandu Lal Sahu (from the BJP, one of the leading parties) hat to face seven rivals, with the exact same name. Additionally, three others had a very similar name and two had at least the same surname.
This kind of electoral game is also played in the U.S. sometimes, like with Jose Serrano, a former member of the House of Representatives. In 2004 he was challenged by – drummm rooooll – Jose Serrano.
A famous example was also the case of the election of JFK in the House of Representatives in 1946. Two of his competitors were from the West End in Boston, and both were named: Joe Russo.
https://thediplomat.com/2020/12/indias-fight-against-copying-candidates/
https://thewestendmuseum.org/history/era/immigrant-neighborhood/jfk-and-the-two-joe-russos/