'Dead man' runs for election

2004-04-15 13:53

New Delhi - A member of an association for dead people announced on Wednesday his decision to contest parliamentary elections against Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Shivdutt Yadav is a member of the Mritak Sangh or association of dead people in northern Uttar Pradesh state. It was formed by Lal Bihari, one of thousands of India's "living dead", who battled bureaucracy for 18 years to prove he was alive.

Bihari first found out he was dead - and declared so by a land-grabbing uncle - when he applied for a bank loan in 1975.

In Uttar Pradesh it is easy to bribe government officials, declare a land owner dead and then transfer the land to your name. Once declared dead in official records, it becomes almost impossible and very costly - to prove you are alive.

Bihari formed the association in Azamgarh district and discovered at least 10 000 "dead" people like himself.

Yadav, who will take on the premier in elections starting April 20, and three of his brothers have been declared dead in revenue records. But his name is there on the voter's list and in government records for subsidised groceries.

"Our objective of fielding Yadav is to attract attention towards this grave anomaly," Bihari said.

Apart from the association, Bihari has tried to draw public and political attention through other methods - standing for elections, organising his own funeral, demanding widow's compensation for his wife and even adding the word "mritak", or dead, to his name. Sapa-dpa

- SAPA