He’s been called a maverick, eccentric and mad but none of the epithets is a dampener on his die-hard spirit. Otherwise why would he have contested all the general elections since 1962 and lost all of them!
Meet Shyam Babu Subudhi, 84, a homeopathy doctor from Odisha’s Behrampur. Undettered, the octogenarian is all set to contest yet another Lok Sabha poll, from two seats in Ganjam district, Aska and Behrampur as an independent candidate. This will be his 14th attempt to enter Parliament.
He takes pride in the fact that he is not aligned with any political party. Every time he makes a deposit (only to lose it), the homeopath claims that his mission is to fight corruption in the country.
Dr Subudi made his foray into politics (if we may call it so) in 1957, when he took on former State Minister Brundaban Nayak, losing narrowly to him in the Hinjili Assembly constituency. His only motive at that time was to enable the setting up of a school in Behrampur. Fighting elections became an obsession with him from then on. However, since 1980, he has concentrated only on Parliamentary elections. Among his political ‘rivals’ have been none other than Biju Patnaik and PV Narasimha Rao.
Dr Subudi may have faced defeat many times over but his spirit is undefeated. Like all previous elections, he is campaigning with the same enthusiasm and optimism. You can catch him on a cycle, on foot or even a bullock cart meeting small groups of people. His attire has not changed in all these years. He wears a full suit and a cap in sweltering heat.
BBC used the sobriquet “The world’s biggest election loser” for him in the last election. So, will he or will he not win the election this time? The outcome is quite predictable. But does it matter. We can at least salute the dogged determination of this man.
OTHERS LIKE HIM TOO
There are others like him in the rest of India too. All of them go by the nickname “Dhartipakad” (a person who clings to the earth). They have all unsuccessfully contested elections against top leaders.
Kashi’s Narendra Nath Dubey
He is also called ‘Adig’ by his supporters. A criminal lawyer by profession, he also contested against Narendra Modi in 2014. His symbol was letter box. He has contested many elections since 1984 including the Presidential election of 2017. He has also contested MLA, MCP, MP and Vice-Presidential elections, forfeiting his deposit every time.
Patna’s Nagarmal Bajoria
A social worker from Bhagalpur, he is best described as the man who fought to lose 184 elections. He contested against Narendra Modi from Varanasi in 2014.
Bareilly’s Kaka Joginder Singh
A textile owner, he died in 1998 but not before contesting and losing over 300 elections. Singh always used to look at the security deposit, which he invariably lost as his humble contribution to the nation.
