Tense scenes as poll hopefuls keep vigil at nomination centres

Tense scenes continued to play out at the 23 nomination centres across Mumbai, most of which released their final lists of approved candidates by the end of day

MUMBAI: After a nerve-wracking first round of tears, protests and desperate runs between party offices for nominations, those who survived braced for round two on Wednesday – scrutiny of their forms.

Tense scenes continued to play out at the 23 nomination centres across Mumbai, most of which released their final lists of approved candidates by the end of day. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo) (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

HT graphics.

Tense scenes continued to play out at the 23 nomination centres across Mumbai, most of which released their final lists of approved candidates by the end of day. After walking on coals to secure tickets, candidates camped at the centres all day, watching their forms like hawks.

Shingade had been denied a ticket by her party, the Shiv Sena. “With only 24 hours to go before nominations closed, I visited Ambedkar Bhavan and was interviewed around 1.30 am on Tuesday at the VBA office. The party officially declared my candidature at 8 am and I received my AB form at 1.30 pm,” said Shingade, who was with the Sena for over 18 years.

At the nomination centre at Dadar’s Antonio D’Silva School, Imran Mohammed Shaikh and his sister Afreena Shaikh waited all day to track their candidature after two days of hectic negotiations with their party, the NCP. “We are both NCP office-bearers. When it became clear on Monday that we wouldn’t get tickets, I managed to get an AB form from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), while my sister got one from the Peace Party,” said Mohammed. Both filed their nominations by Tuesday and are at the centre to make sure there are no hiccups now.

Mother-sister duo, Ruchita and Shaila Badadal, were not quite so lucky. Both women were to contest from ward 183 and 189, on Bahujan Republican Socialist Party (BRSP) tickets. “I have been a social worker for a long time and thought it was time we contested, to do more. But there were discrepancies in my caste certificate and my nomination form was rejected,” said a dejected Shaila, the senior Badadal.

The Badadals spent all of Tuesday trying to get their caste certificates approved at the collector’s office but didn’t make it. Both were active workers in other parties like the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and the Congress but had shifted to the BRSP to contest the elections.

At the Dahisar nomination centre, a poll hopeful had to face a sobering reality. An election officer told HT a man had turned up on Tuesday, clearly drunk, and bought a nomination form just before the centre shut.

“Intending to contest as an independent candidate, he simply filled in his name and, without attaching any documents, submitted the form. He returned today, sober, and was remorseful that his political career had crashed due to a botched nomination,” the official said.

Elsewhere, at ward 226 in South Mumbai, Navnath Lalge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was crestfallen. “The ward is reserved for an OBC candidate but the AAP candidate was unable to submit either a caste validity certificate or a receipt to confirm that he had applied for one,” said an election official.