Among the dirty tricks in the electioneering book is that of putting up dummy candidates—unknowns from a rival’s caste or community fielded to draw away some of his votes. Chhattisgarh has taken that a step further in this election: many dummies have the same name as the candidate they are meant to undercut. In Mahasamund, where Congress veteran Ajit Jogi is pitted against Chandulal Sahu, the BJP’s sitting MP, there are seven more Chandulal Sahus in the fray. Besides, there are three Chandu Ram Sahus. In Raipur, where the Congress has fielded Satyanarayan Sharma, there are three other Satyanarayan Sharmas vying for votes. And in Bilaspur, where the Congress has fielded Karuna Shukla, former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s niece, against the BJP incumbent Lakhan Sahu, five more Lakhan Sahus are contesting elections.