Laxmi vs Laxmi for samiti member post in Ganjam

Berhampur: Laxmi Behera is contesting against Laxmi Behera for the post of samiti member in Ganjam district. Yes, you have read it right. In Debabhumi panchayat under Aska block, two women with the same name are the only candidates in the fray for the post of samiti member. They are, in fact, sisters-in-law.
While one Laxmi is the wife of Sanjay, the other woman is the wife of Sanjay’s brother Sambhu.Though they belong to the same family, they live separately in Mamudiha, a village under Debabhumi panchayat. Debabhumi is the birthplace of former minister late Harihar Swain.
In order to clear the obvious confusion from the minds of over 5,000 voters in Debabhumi, both candidates are stressing on their election symbols during campaigning. While one has been allotted the ‘stool’ symbol, the other has got the ‘kettle’. There is no party affiliation for candidates for the post of samiti member.
“The election symbols can distinguish between the two candidates. I hope there will be no confusion among the voters when they cast their votes on the symbols,” said one Laxmi.
The other Laxmi also made a similar argument while introducing her election symbol to the voters during canvassing. “The contest is between two symbols and not the names,” she said.
Political observers said there were a number of cases in the history of elections in the country, where political parties put up candidates with similar names to confuse the voters. “Such cases had been witnessed in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in northern states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh,” said Jayant Kumar Mohapatra, former vice-chancellor and retired political science professor, Berhampur University. He said the only thing that comes to the rescue of the voters amid the confusion over the names are the election symbols.