Nagpur: In a high drama, former minister and three-time Congress MLA who quit the party to join Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, failed to file his nomination papers from Nagpur Central assembly constituency as he reached the district collector office a minute after 3 pm deadline on Tuesday which was the last day for filing of nominations.
However, talking to FPJ, Anees Ahmed claimed he had reached the polling office in time but was obstructed by the security personnel from entering the polling offices.
Ahmed, a senior politician once a close associate of late Ahmed Patel of Congress and a staunch Gandhi family loyalist, was denied the ticket by the Congress from his traditional North Nagpur seat which has a sizable Muslim and Halba community votes. The Congress preferred to give the ticket to a youth leader Bunty Shelke, a runner-up of the 2019 assembly elections. The BJP has fielded its youth leader, Pravin Datke, replacing its three-term MLA Vikas Kumbhare.
Ahmed resigned from the Congress party and rushed to Mumbai where he met VBA president Prakash Ambedkar ho welcomed him into his party and offered him AB forms to contest from Nagpur Central seat. Ahmed returned to Nagpur on Monday and prepared papers for his election.
"I reached the election office but was unnecessarily held up by security men for precious last minutes. They first objected to five men accompanying me and for disturbing the bench kept at the security checkpoint. I sorted out with them but was then the door to polling office was closed as it was already the 3 pm deadline" Ahmed said.
Few days ago, Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ethadul Muslemeen (AIMIM) had also offered Ahmed a ticket to fight the polls anywhere in the state. Rejecting the offer, Ahmed said he would never quit Congress and wait for the decision of the party.
However, when the party announced the name of Shelke, he decided to resign from the Congress and sent his resignation letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
“There was no response from the Congress even after denying me a ticket. When the entire community supports me. So, I decided to file nomination as VBA candidate," he said and added that he didn’t seek to contest the election, but all imams from Nagpur Central wanted him to contest elections .
His resignation from the Congress, there was fear that it would dent Congress votes in Nagpur West, North, South, and also in Kamptee, where the electorate comprises a sizeable Muslim population. The Nagpur Central seat is dominated by the Halba community too and also has a large number of Muslim voters.
Asked if there was any pressure at the last minute from the Congress party or any other quarters for him to stay away from contesting, Ahmed denied it vehemently and claimed he was unab;e to file papers on;y because of the security men holding up and arguing with him before his entry to the polling office.
