Adolf Hitler is running for election in India. So is Frankenstein.
The tiny northeastern state of Meghalaya has a special fascination for interesting and sometimes controversial names, and the ballot for state elections Saturday did not disappoint. Among the 345 contestants running for the state assembly were Frankenstein Momin, Billykid Sangma, Field Marshal Mawphniang and Romeo Rani.
Some, like Kenedy Marak, Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem and Jhim Carter Sangma, are clearly hoping for the electoral success of their namesake U.S. presidents.
And then there is Hitler.
The 54-year-old father of three has won three elections to the state assembly with little controversy despite being named after the Nazi dictator. His father had worked with the British Army, but apparently developed enough of a fascination with Britain’s wartime archenemy to name his son Adolf Hitler — though he also gave him the middle name Lu.
“I am aware at one point of time Adolf Hitler was the most hated person on Earth for the genocide of the Jews. But my father added ‘Lu’ in between, naming me Adolf Lu Hitler, and that’s why I am different,” Hitler said in the village of Mansingre, 200 km west of Gauhati.
Hitler said his name has not stopped him from traveling the world, including to the United States and Germany. “I never had problems obtaining a visa, but I was asked many times during immigration as to why I should have such a name. I told the immigration staff I possibly didn’t have a role in my naming,” he said.
Musfika Haq, a teacher in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, said such names are common in the state. “Parents obviously get fascinated by names of well-known or great leaders, but must be unaware that some of them — like Hitler — had been highly controversial,” he said.
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