New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has labelled them "spoilers" with no chance of victory, but the independent candidates running in Indian elections are only encouraged by his derision.
A dancer, an auto-rickshaw driver and a magician are among the more than 3,000 independents hoping to put a dent in the fortunes of established political parties in the month-long polls.
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Some choose to go it alone after being denied a party ticket but others, such as acclaimed dancer Mallika Sarabhai, said they are bound by principle.
Sarabhai, who is taking on L.K. Advani, the leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the western city of Gandhinagar, said she has been declining advances from the ruling Congress party for 25 years.
"I don't feel comfortable with what Congress is doing," Sarabhai told AFP before addressing a rally of her supporters.
"There's not a single party that I can relate to because my whole point is that I'm against corruption and backscratching."
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Without the support of any party machinery, Sarabhai admitted her moneyed opponents held a huge advantage over her.
"I'm going around asking friends and begging for donations," she said, adding she believed she had a "very realistic" chance of ousting the veteran Advani -- though few political experts would agree with her assessment.
Sunita Choudhary, New Delhi's first and only female auto-rickshaw driver, has neither Sarabhai's public profile nor her society connections, but she is content to be a lone ranger on the campaign trail.
Unfazed by her competition, Choudhary, 30, said she is certain she has enough public support to put up a fight when Delhi votes on Thursday.
"I stand in the elections to win. All the auto drivers are supporting me," she said.
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Choudhary said she wants to challenge the elitism of electoral politics, where parties often evoke the "aam admi" or "common man" before elections, but rarely listen to voters' concerns.
"When Manmohan Singh or any politician comes here they don't talk to the common man. In fact the police shut the road and keep them away from everyone," Choudhary said while campaigning in a bustling market.
Armed with a megaphone and a stack of black and white fliers, the petite Choudhary is a one-woman show.
Her auto-rickshaw is draped with a campaign banner and she proudly displays a large, almost empty, plastic jar which she said contains "people's money."
Choudhary and Sarabhai have adopted relatively tame campaign tactics compared with Gopal Jadugar's approach.
Jadugar, a magician running as an independent in the western city of Jodhpur, filed his nomination papers while decked out in a black burglar's suit and brandishing a toy gun -- all part of his strategy to win power.
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"I'm dressed as a dacoit (armed robber), and I'll take money from those dacoit politicians and give it to the common man. This is my promise and for this only people will vote for me," Jadugar said.
Six independents had seats in the outgoing parliament and, with a record number running in these elections, their successors might just hold the key to power.
Neither the Congress nor the BJP is expected to win an outright majority when results come in on May 16, and both parties will then be looking to co-opt other MPs to build a ruling coalition.
But Sarabhai, who called Singh's "spoiler" remark "absurd," was adamant she would never ally with any mainstream party.
"In our constitution there is no mention of party -- it's all about individuals. That's the greatest malaise of Indian democracy. It's become about parties and not about people," she said.
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