The “king of elections” lost in India: 238 elections and not one victory

Tire repairman K. Padmarajan has contested 238 elections in India and lost in all of them. Far from being intimidated, this “king of elections” will contest new elections in April because, for him, “victory is secondary”.

“All candidates seek victory in the elections,” says the 65-year-old applicant. “I don’t”.

His electoral career began in 1988 in his native village of Mettur, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

People made fun of himbut Padmarajan wanted to show that an ordinary man could run in an election in the most populous country in the world.

Victory is participating and, when inevitable defeat comes, it is “happy losing”, says the man, who sports an imposing walrus mustache.

In India’s general elections to begin on April 19 and will stretch for six weeks, Padmarajan is contesting a parliamentary seat in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district.

Popularly nicknamed as “king of elections”, He has competed in all types of elections, from local to presidential, and he has lost to figures like Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his predecessors and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

“Victory is secondary”, points out. “Who is the opponent? I don’t care”zanja Padmarajan.

Now, their main concern is to extend their losing streak. The milestone has not come cheap: has spent thousands of dollars on nomination fees over three decades.

For his latest application, he had to pay a security deposit of 25,000 rupees ($300), which he will not be able to refund unless he gets more than 16% of the votes.

So far, his best result was in 2011, when he contested the assembly elections in Mettur. He obtained 6,273 votes, far from the winner’s more than 75,000.

“I didn’t expect a single vote. But it was shown that people accept me,” states.

In addition to his tire repair shop, Padmarajan offers homeopathic remedies and works as an editor at a local media outlet. But his most important job is to compete in elections.
“People hesitate to show up. I want to be a model,” states.

Over three decades he has kept the nomination papers for each of his candidacies and a multitude of souvenirs used in his campaigns: a fish, a ring, a hat, among other things.

Once ridiculed, Padmarajan now gives talks to students about resilience and overcoming defeats. “I don’t think about winning. Failure is the best,” dice.

And what would happen if one day he wins? “I would have a heart attack”he jokes.