Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay says he wants to bring clean politics and not misuse public funds. A noble promise. One hopes he will begin by ensuring that his own political strategy does not impose avoidable costs on the public exchequer.
Contesting from two constituencies has become the political equivalent of an insurance policy. It is rarely done by leaders who are confident of victory. It is the preferred route of those who want a safety net.
The chief of the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) will be contesting from two constituencies – Perambur and Tiruchirapalli East – in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election, in his poll debut.
By-poll forced upon voters
Rahul Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala – two entirely different states, separated by distance, language and political context – but represented by one candidate. The objective was clear: hedge the risk. After winning both, one seat is vacated, and a by-election is forced upon the voters.
This is not new. Narendra Modi contested from Varanasi and Vadodara in 2014, and later vacated Vadodara, triggering a by-election. Over the years, leaders such as Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav have followed the same script. Contest two seats, win both, keep one, resign the other – and leave the rest to the Election Commission and the taxpayer.
It costs money
An election is not a symbolic exercise. It involves thousands of polling staff, deployment of security forces, transport, EVM management, training, and an elaborate administrative machinery. All these costs crores of rupees. When a candidate vacates a seat, the entire process must be repeated – not because the electorate asked for it, but because a politician wanted a fallback option.
The candidate loses nothing. The voter is inconvenienced. The state spends again. Democracy becomes more expensive, not more representative.
Let them pay for it
There is a simple reform that can end this overnight. If a candidate contests from two seats and later resigns one, the full cost of the by-election in that constituency should be recovered from the candidate or the party.
If leaders want a two-seat insurance policy, they should pay the premium themselves – not pass the bill to the public.
Until then, this will remain what it is: risk-free politics for the candidate, and risk-full expenditure for the taxpayer.
If leaders want a safety net, they should knit it with their own money.
