Leading the list is former IISD Chairman Abdulla Manjeri from Kerala. Though he faces opposition from some quarters, his own Malayali community — and even the Hyderabadi community — seems to be rallying behind him.

He even enjoys a good rapport with the north Indian community having studied at Aligarh Muslim University. Manjeri’s name appears on virtually all the lists issued by important Indian associations, such as Dammam International Indian School Parents Association (DIISPA), Overseas Indian Cultural Congress, Kerala Muslim Cultural Congress (KMCC) and India Fraternity Forum (IFF). Only from the list of Navodaya Cultural Center is he absent.

Parents of students at the school are eligible to vote. According to a note issued by the school on Monday, there are 7,500 eligible voters. The majority of the parents, estimated at around 50 percent, are from Kerala and therefore they will be the ones who decide who wins and who loses. Hyderabadis and Tamils are the other two dominant communities at the school.

The election system is such that each voter has to vote for seven candidates and, at the same time, they have to ensure that they do not select more than two candidates from any particular state. For instance, a voter cannot select more than two candidates from Kerala or more than two candidates from Andhra Pradesh.

This creates a very peculiar situation. In the last elections in 2007, the late Muhammad Asghar Khan from Jharkhand won the highest number of votes (1,496) and went on to become the school chairman. There were less than 100 votes from Jharkhand but Khan won because of massive support from the Keralite community.

In the 2005 elections, Dr. Mumtaz Ali Khan from Rajasthan won a large number of votes, despite the fact that there were fewer than 100 parents from Rajasthan in the school. Again Keralites voted for him overwhelmingly.

Keralite associations are far more organized and stick to the pre-poll promises. Their voters exercise their franchise according to the lists issued by their associations, and they generally vote en masse.

If one goes by the buzz in the Keralite community, then the frontrunners are R. Mohammad Sunil (Kerala), Abdulla Manjeri (Kerala), Hakeem M. Dowla (Andhra Pradesh), Dr. Shamshad Ahmed (Delhi), K.M. Thirunavukkarasu (Tamil Nadu), Ravi Radhakrishna Murthy (Andhra Pradesh), Haradwala Mohammed Farooque (Gujarat) and Khurshid Anwer (Bihar).

Farooque is from Gujarat but he is actually a Tamil and there is a lot of linguistic affinity between Tamils and Keralites. Farooque therefore enjoys substantial support from the Kerala groups. Raju Kurian (Kerala) and Syed Qaiser Ali (Bihar) have their own set of followers.

Among the Hyderabadi community, Mohammed Abdul Waris and Mohammad Omer Zaman Khan, are hugely popular. Abdul Waris, project supervisor at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, is immensely popular. Both the candidates have been endorsed by all the top men in the community, including Hyderabad Association President Mirza Zaheer Baig and community elder Abdul Azeem. However, none of the major Keralite organizations, except the IFF, have listed them in their panels.

There are two candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Javed Hafeez and Hasnain Akhter. Both are formidable and have a considerable following in their community. Hafeez, in particular, is a favorite in the highly active Aligarh Muslim University alumni group called Aligarh Forum. Some of the leading and well-known alumni are actively engaged in campaigning for him. Hasnain has found support in the Hyderabad Association. Their victory will depend on how many votes they are able to attract from other states.

“As of now, the contest is wide open and it is more like a lottery,” said an exasperated candidate who has been running from one meeting to another, trying to get his name endorsed by other associations. “Anybody can win on April 26 and you cannot hazard a guess.”

The elections are supposed to bring in those who can provide the best administration for the school. Over the years, however, things have degenerated into who belongs to which state and not on who has what qualification.

The candidates have promised different things to different voters. One candidate has promised to lower tuition fees; another has promised clean restrooms while yet another has promised to make the school’s financial statements public.

Two candidates, most notably Hafeez, have vowed to streamline the chaotic transportation system; another candidate has promised to recruit good teachers, and others have promised to erect new buildings for the school. Little do they know that once elected they will have little to do except sign on the line dotted by bodies high up in the rank.