Meghalaya state's fascination with interesting names is clear with one look at the ballot for state elections

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Adolf Hitler is running for election in India. So is Frankenstein.

The tiny north-east Indian state of Meghalaya has a fascination with interesting, and controversial, names and the ballot for state elections on Saturday provides proof.

Among the 345 contestants running for state assembly are Frankenstein Momin, Billykid Sangma, Field Marshal Mawphniang, and Romeo Rani. Some, such as Kenedy Marak, Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem and Jhim Carter Sangma, are clearly hoping for the electoral success of their namesake US presidents.

Then there is Hitler.

This 54-year-old father of three has won three elections to the state assembly with little controversy despite his name.

His father had worked with the British army, but apparently developed enough of a fascination with Britain's arch-enemy 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," said Hitler, who hails from the small village of Mansingre, 120 miles west of Gauhati, the capital of neighbouring Assam state.

Hitler said his name has not stopped him from travelling the world, including trips to the US, and to Germany.

"I've 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.

India played little role in the second world war, and many Indians view Hitler not as the personification of evil but as a figure of fascination.

Hitler's book Mein Kampf is prominently displayed at many Indian bookstores. The owner of a menswear shop named his store Hitler, then expressed confusion last year after Israel complained.

Musfika Haq, a teacher in Meghalaya's capital, Shillong, 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.