Undeterred By 238 Defeats, Tamil Nadu’s ‘Election King’ Ready For Electoral Battle Again

Mettur: K Padmarajan, the 65-year-old tyre repair shop owner in Tamil Nadu’s Mettur who has contested and lost 238 elections since 1988, is set to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls yet again from Dharmapuri.

His election symbol is tyres.

Known as the “Election King”, Padmarajan has lost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, and also Rahul Gandhi. He has contested from across the country in elections ranging from presidential to local polls.

Padmarajan is least bothered about victory and losing also does not impact him. He only wants to prove that an ordinary man can take part in elections. “All candidates seek victory in elections. Not me. Victory is secondary. Who is the opposite candidate? I do not care,” he told AFP.

Padmarajan has spend “thousands of dollars”, as he says, in security deposits including Rs 25,000 deposited for the upcoming elections his latest tilt, which he might again lose if fails to poll in more than 16 per cent of votes.

The 65-year-old has earned a place as India’s most unsuccessful candidate in the Limca Book of Records. His best performance was in the Assembly elections from Mettur in 2011, when he garnered 6,273 votes. Once ridiculed, he is also being invited to address students about resilience and explain them how to bounce back from defeat.

Padmarajan also provides homeopathic medicines to people and works as an editor for local media but fighting elections is his most important job. “It is about involvement. People hesitate to put in their nominations. So I want to be a role model, to create awareness,” was quoted as saying.

Padmarajan has safely kept all nomination papers and identity cards from each of his failed bids.

When asked whether a win would come as a shock for him, he quipped, “I will have a heart attack.”