Santosh Kumar Singh,  declared dead by Uttar Pradesh state

AFP
Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP

New Dilhi, April 12 .  Santosh Kumar Singh, who was declared dead by Uttar Pradesh state, prays before eating a meal donated by a community kitchen at his protest site at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Singh is officially listed as deceased on government records, his family having registered his death certificate in 2003 to cheat him out of land.

Anyone over 25 in the nation of 1.3 billion people can stand in the election, which began on April 11 and runs until May 19, with thousands of candidates standing for just 543 seats.