Frankenstein versus Hitler in Meghalaya

Frankenstein Momin, Adolf Lu Hitler, Hopestandard Nyrthong, Sunshine Sohtun, brothers Sounder and Founder S. Cajee, Victory Kharsyntiew. The...

Frankenstein Momin, Adolf Lu Hitler, Hopestandard Nyrthong, Sunshine Sohtun, brothers Sounder and Founder S. Cajee, Victory Kharsyntiew. The candidates for the Meghalaya Assembly elections might even live up to their promises, but matching up to their names might prove more difficult.

Whatever happened to plain Laloo Yadav’ or even Pamulaparthi Venkateswara Narasimha Rao’? Not here. The rule is: keep it original, keep it snappy, short or long no bar.

What if Frankenstein W. Momin, the Congress candidate from Mendipathar in Garo hills, is about as scary as Casper. Not only is he courteous, the man appears even timid. But that doesn’t count, for he beat former minister and sitting MLA B.G. Momin in the 1993 elections from the seat.

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Don’t take Adolf Lu Hitler, Congress candidate from Rang-sakona, lightly either. His only similarity with the dictator may end at his height, but Hitler stands tall in the seat he won last time.

Then there are the optimistic ones. Hill State People’s Democratic Party(HSPDP) supremo, who refused to disband his party to form a regional one, is called Hopingstone Lyngdoh. His hope is forming the next government. But the BJP is matching him syllable by syllable in his Nogstoin constituency. Its candidate’s name: Hopestandard Myrthong.

Then there is the HSPDP’s Laban candidate, Sunshine Sohtun; the Mongkrem Independent candidate, Victory Kharsyntiew; and the Kherapara United Democratic Party candidate, Saviour D. Shira.

One of the Cajee brothers both of whom are People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidates is called Sounder S. Cajee. And the other, simply, Founder S. Cajee. Sounder, at least, is known for his vocal cords, having earned his name as the president of the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP). Later, he quit it and founded the PDP. Founder just joined it.

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Tourism Minister and Congress candidate Edmund Speakerson Lyngdoh, on the other hand, is the quiet sort. He is not known to speak much in the Assembly. But partyman Friday Lyngdoh’s nameisn’t so difficult to unravel. The former minister and Congress candidate was born on a Friday. Besides his parents got married on one.

The name game isn’t confined to the Assembly alone. The Congress candidate for the Shillong parliamentary seat is Paty Ripple Kyndiah. A former State speaker, he had created more than a ripple in 1992, when he got into a fight with the then Congress Legislature Party leader D.D. Lapang for the chief minister’s chair. He lost that as well as the speaker’s post, but was made the State governor by the Congress, which was wary of offending him.

Other fancier names are now hoping to emulate him as far as ripples go. After all, there is one thing definitely in such names. Even in Meghalaya, they can get you a curious crowd.