This Man Contested 171 Elections And Lost Rs 20 Lakh, All In The Hope Of Never Winning!
Dr K Padmarajan has fought 171 elections but never won any. The homeopathic doctor-turned businessman from Salem fights every election in the hope of not winning Known as Election King this 56-year-olds aim is to retain the tag of the most unsuccessful candidate in elections in the world.
This man has fought 171 elections but never won any. But Dr. K Padmarajan hasn't lost hope. He prays to lose every time he contests a poll.
Yes, Padmarajan, a homeopathic doctor-turned businessman from Salem, fights every election in the hope of not winning! Known as 'Election King,' this 56-year-old's aim is to retain the tag of the most unsuccessful candidate in elections in the world. He has lost nearly Rs 20 lakhs but that hasn't demotivated him from contesting polls and losing them. The amount that he lost is the money one needs to submit for filing nominations.
He has never spent a penny in campaigning and every time he goes out to campaign for himself, he asks people not to vote for him!
He has filed nominations in elections in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and New Delhi since 1988. Last year, he wanted to contest against Narendra Modi in Vadodara, but his nomination was rejected. He unsuccessfully contested elections against four prime ministers, 11 chief ministers, 13 union ministers and 15 state ministers. He has contested eight presidential elections, 28 Lok Sabha elections, 35 Rajya Sabha elections and 51 assembly and other local body elections so far.
His opponents included President Pranab Mukherjee, former presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil, former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, late Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran and former Union minister A K Antony.
The highest number of votes he ever got was 6,273 during the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 2011. He contested in the Mettur constituency.
He believes that elections can be fought by anyone but only those who have money can win them. When asked during an AIB interview what he would name his party, if there's ever one, he said he would call it - 'Election King Failure Party'.
His name was included in the Limca Book of Records in 2004, 2014 and 2015 for being the most unsuccessful candidate and he hopes that some day his name will also be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
(Image courtesy : AIB show)
