NAGPUR: Confusion and dramatic scenes prevailed in Nagpur on the last day of filing of nominations for the municipal elections.
The centre of theatrics was Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s residence, as he distributed the AB forms to the BJP candidates.
Earlier, on Friday, the BJP, which is the ruling party in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, had declared candidates for 148 of the 151 seats. The party gave three seats to two Republican Party of India (RPI) factions.
The BJP gave tickets to four Muslim candidates and denied tickets to 24 sitting corporators. The party’s list includes over 30% new faces.
The BJP corporators who were denied tickets protested in front of Mr. Gadkari’s residence in Mahal area of the city.
Several women party workers walked out of the Minister’s residence saying, “They want beautiful faces only. No place for genuine women workers in this party.”
Vandana Thombre, a BJP worker who was demanding a ticket from ward 24, was miffed as the ticket was given to Chetna Tank, BJP’s sitting corporator from ward 22.
Speaking to reporters outside Mr. Gadkari’s residence, Ms. Thombre said, “Last time she [Ms. Tank] contested from ward 22 and had called my ward ‘the ward of beggars’, but they gave her a ticket from my ward. We will not work for the party if it imposes such candidates on us. At least in my ward, the BJP candidate will lose the election.”
The BJP’s publicity wing chief in Nagpur, Chandan Goswami, was also among those left out. Mr. Goswami was seemingly unhappy with the decision and changed the name of the ‘BJP Media group’ to ‘Media Friends’. He also removed the party flag from the group icon.
Supporters of Shikant Aglawe, the sitting BJP corporator from ward 22, also raised slogans against the party in front of Mr. Gadkari’s residence over denial of ticket to him. They threatened to defeat the BJP’s official nominee in the ward, Manoj Chaple.
A BJP worker from ward 32 Mangala Maske publicly questioned State Cabinet Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule over denial of ticket to her.
“How can you deny tickets to workers who gave their blood to the party for generations? How come outsiders are getting tickets?” Ms. Maske asked Mr. Bawankule. She was referring to Pragati Patil, wife of former NCP Nagpur district president Ajay Patil; the couple had left the NCP to join the BJP on Tuesday.
Anil Dhawade, a BJP corporator with a criminal record, joined the Shiv Sena after he was denied a ticket.
Prominent faces in the BJP list were Nagpur Mayor Pravin Datake, Sandeep Joshi (a close friend of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis), former mayor Maya Ivnate, Dayashankar Tiwari, and Pragati Patil.
Most BJP workers accused Mr. Datake of diverting tickets of deserving candidates at the last minute.
The BJP’s city secretary, Kishor Palandukar, resigned from his post “due to the interference of city BJP MLAs in ticket distribution.”
Responding to the workers’ reactions, Mr. Bawankule said, “Over 5,000 applications were received for 151 seats and the tickets were allotted on the basis of surveys conducted by the party. There were more than 15 strong party workers demanding tickets from each ward. All these party workers will work hard for the party in elections.”
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari met some of the party workers who were protesting outside his residence on Saturday and tried to pacify them.
The Congress camp also saw confusion and anger over ticket distribution. More than one AB forms were given to the candidates in many wards.
According to reports, there were heated verbal exchange and fights among the Congress workers. However, district Congress president Vikas Thakre denied such reports.
The vehicles of Nagpur district Congress president Vikas Thakre and Congress leader Abhijit Vanjari became the target of angry Congressmen who were denied tickets on Friday.
Many Congress and BJP leaders who were denied tickets filed nominations from the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the BSP. These three parties, along with the MNS, also saw last minute defections. The MNS’s Nagpur district president, Prashant Pawar, tendered his resignation.
