A few Barack Obamas in fray for Brazilian municipal polls too!

Sao Paulo, Oct 2 : The Nov 2 US presidential poll seems to have made an impression on the Brazilian municipal polls too, with a host of candidates here prefixing or suffixing names like "Barack", "Obama", "Osama", "Osama bin Laden" with their original names in a bid to stand out in the face of their political rivals.

Three candidates have registered to contest the Brazilian municipal polls as Obama while three others are now called Barack - in one case Barak - Obama. And, now they feel confident of giving stiff competition to their opponents.

Brazilian politicians often adopt unusual names at election time. Candidates are allowed to either register in their own name or a chosen one. Many use their long-held nicknames but some adopt outlandish identities to grab attention.

According to The Telegraph, more than 200 candidates running in municipal polls next weekend have also renamed themselves after Luiz In cio Lula da Silva, the country's popular president with an approval rating of 80 per cent.

There are candidates having "adopted" names of the likes of Bill Clinton, Jorge Bushi and infamous Middle-Eastern leaders like DJ Saddam, John Bin Laden, Chico Bin Laden, Luis Bin Laden.

"I am black and I wore a suit on television and people started to tell me I was just like that Barack Obama guy in the US. It was a great idea, more and more people are paying attention to my campaign. People can see that I have plans and programmes, not that I am just some guy out for power," said dos Anjos, who is running for mayor of Belford Roxo, a city on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Lula's personal approval rating hit 80 percent this week, higher than any President since polling began more than 20 years ago, and many candidates have added Lula to their name in the hope that some of his success will rub off.

ANI