Amarpal Singh Boni, the young SAD (B) candidate and a medical college dropout who defeated a Congress heavyweight from Ajnala in these elections, breaks into a grin when you quiz him about his surname. ‘‘It’s my pet name, it means healthy and handsome,’’ he says. English teachers may have some problems with the spelling he prefers to use, but the first-time MLA is happy to wave away any corrections. ‘‘I don’t care as long as people say it with affection, ji.’’

The advantages of caste-free “surnames” like Boni far outweigh those that can be associated with one. Says Boni, “Jats, Rajputs and Ravidasiyas to Christians and baniyas — we have every caste in my constituency. And I work for everyone.”

The trend is new in a state where village names are generally favoured as surnames. Old-timers trace the practice of doing without caste surnames to the Singh Sabha movement at the turn of the 20th Century which asked the Sikhs to eschew their caste. That explains why except Harcharan Singh Brar, all Punjab CMs have set their caste aside. Be it Partap Singh Kairon, Parkash Singh Badal or Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, they chose to go with the names of their villages instead, while others like late Beant Singh and Capt Amarinder Singh opted to keep it simple with a `Singh`.

Political scientists call the new trend an urban manifestation of the traditional reluctance of Jat Sikh politicians to bandy about their caste in a state where SCs form over 32 per cent of the population.

But Dr Rajesh Gill, a sociologist at Panjab University, calls it a style statement very much in sync with the flamboyant nature of the state politics.

For Tejinder Singh Bittu, Congress candidate from Jalandhar Centre who jumped into politics in college, it`s only a matter of convenience. Bittu replaced his surname Dudiya with Bittu, for it made him more people-friendly. “It breeds familiarity, it’s so easy for complete strangers to tell me, Bittu, idhar aa; Bittu, udhar ja,” he says laughing.

Luv Kumar Goldy, Congress candidate from Garhshankar, also cites the same logic for replacing the Sharma in his name with ‘Goldy’.

Pet names are certainly easy on the memory. This may explain why first-timer contestant from Kharar, Jasjit Singh, decided to suffix Bunny to his name. Son of senior Akali leader Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Bunny may have lost the polls but he has certainly registered in the collective memory of Kharar.

Easy to recall, pet names are also equally easy to lampoon. Bittu recalls his mortification when a veteran told him that he had decided to quit politics, for he didn`t want to rub shoulders with the Bittus and Bittas in the fray. But Malkiat Singh Kittu, former Barnala MLA who lost to Congress this time, says he is fine with his name despite the greys in his beard. “That’s the name by which people have always known me. I would take offence if they were to address me as Malkiat saab or Sardar Malkiat Singh,” shrugs the transporter.

Though childish to the ears, nicknames are certainly no deterrent to serious power play. Dimpa or the Congress candidate from Beas, Jasbir Singh Dimpa, for instance, is as powerful as you can get in the border belt. It came as no surprise to anyone when polling in his constituency was put off after his younger brother Rajan Gill was videographed firing from an AK-47 during a clash with the Akalis.

Power or no power, Pawan Kumar Tinnu, a BSP leaders who broke away to form Bahujan Kranti Party (BKP) last December and also uses a nickname, is all praise for the use of pet names after a phase that saw politicians reasserting their caste. “It’s a drop in the ocean but I am glad that leaders are taking a conscious decision not to identify themselves with their caste.”

Many like Gurcharan Singh Channi, president of SAD(B)’s Jalandhar unit, says he and his brother Amardeep Singh Amri, BJP Yuva Morcha president, chose to shun their caste, for the Sikh religion is against casteism. “We’re all Singhs but since there would be many Charanjits I have tried to distinguish myself by appending ‘Channi’ to my name.”

It’s another matter that ‘Channi’ is well on the way to become a surname. Charanjit’s young school-going son is called Kaka Channi.