In an irony of sorts, the nomination form of Ankush Kakde of the Nationalist Congress Party got rejected after he could not attach an important form to his election affidavit in time.
The NCP’s spokesperson and close confidante of party chief Sharad Pawar, Mr. Kakde filed his AB form for nomination from Kasaba Assembly constituency on Saturday but missed on tagging it with the mandatory election affidavit to complete the formalities.
He then rushed out of election office to get the affidavit done. Meanwhile, former deputy city Mayor Deepak Mankar, who on Friday crossed over to NCP after talks with Ajit Pawar, too filed his nomination on behalf on NCP as per party directive with a final decision of official candidate slated for October 1, the last date for withdrawal.
By the time Mr. Kakde’s affidavit arrived and his lawyers frantically stamped it with his signature, the election office door was locked with the expiry of 3 p.m. deadline for filing of nomination papers.
A poignant spectacle of Mr. Kakde staring at Mr. Mankar through the closed grilled shutter attracted a battery of photographers to click the desperate moment for the senior NCP leader who fervently wished to turn back time.
NCP city chief and MP Vandana Chavan, told PTI on Sunday, “It was an extremely unfortunate episode involving senior party leader like Kakde. I am feeling very bad.”
Mr. Mankar’s nomination has raised eyebrows within NCP with party loyalists feeling let down by his last-minute entry in the party.
The Kasaba constituency is set to witness a multi cornered contest featuring NCP, Congress, Shiv Sena, MNS and sitting BJP MLA Girish Bapat.
