Kannur: With only two weeks left for the Kerala Assembly elections, namesake candidates have emerged as a challenge to several prominent leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and ministers PA Mohammed Riyas and P Rajeev.

In the Chief Minister’s Dharmadam constituency, an Independent candidate, Vijayan AM from Chedichery in Kannur, has entered the fray. The UDF has fielded Adv VP Abdul Rasheed against Pinarayi, while the BJP has nominated Adv K Ranjith in the constituency.

In Beypore, Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas is facing a challenge from two namesake candidates—Mohammed Riyas TT and Muhammad Riyas PC. Former LDF MLA PV Anvar, who is contesting against Riyas, has the most namesakes, with Independent candidates Anwar Al Hassan and three others sharing the same name and filing nominations.

In Kalamassery, an Independent candidate named Rajeev has filed nomination papers in the constituency where Minister P Rajeev is contesting.

In Haripad, UDF candidate and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala is also facing a namesake, with an Independent candidate named Ramesh C entering the fray. LDF’s TT Jismon and NDA’s Sandeep Vachaspathi are the other major candidates in the constituency.

In Cherthala, Congress leader KR Rajendraprasad, who is contesting against Agriculture Minister P Prasad, is also facing a namesake.

CPM rebel leader G Sudhakaran, contesting as a UDF-backed Independent from Ambalappuzha, is also facing a similar challenge.

In Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, Independent candidate Prasanth K has filed nomination papers against sitting MLA VK Prasanth. In the same constituency, Congress leader K Muralidharan will take on an Independent candidate named Muralidharan P.

In Koyilandy, Kozhikode DCC president Praveen Kumar K is up against an Independent candidate with the same name.

Similarly, Congress leader Thomas Unniyadan, contesting from Irinjalakuda, is also facing an Independent candidate named Thomas.

Nominations for the April 9 polls closed on Monday. With scrutiny set to begin on Tuesday, the number of candidates is expected to drop as several nominations may be rejected or withdrawn. The results will be declared on May 4.