Maharashtra polls: Ex-MLA from Nagpur misses nomination deadline by a minute

NAGPUR: A high-voltage drama unfolded at the collectorate here on Tuesday when former Maharashtra minister and three-time Congress MLA Anees Ahmed, who recently left the Congress to join the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), was unable to file his nomination—missing the deadline by just one minute. The cut-off for submitting nominations was 3:00 pm, marking the last opportunity for candidates to file for the assembly elections.

Ahmed, a three-time MLA who represented the Muslim-majority Nagpur Central constituency, resigned from the Congress and promptly travelled to Mumbai, where he met VBA president Prakash Ambedkar. Ambedkar welcomed him into the VBA and provided him with AB forms to contest from Nagpur Central.

Ahmed returned to Nagpur on Monday evening but chose to file his nomination papers a day later. He claimed that upon arriving at the election office, he was delayed by security personnel who objected to his entourage of five and to a disturbance involving a bench at the security checkpoint. This delay proved costly, as the door to the office closed just as the 3:00 pm deadline passed, Ahmed claimed.

Recently, Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had also offered Ahmed a ticket to contest from anywhere in the state. Although he initially rejected the offer, expressing loyalty to the Congress, he ultimately resigned from the party when it fielded Bunty Shelke as its candidate for the Nagpur Central seat. There was no response from the Congress, even after they denied Ahmed a ticket, despite strong community support, Ahmed stated. “So, I decided to contest as a VBA candidate.”

Ahmed’s resignation sparked concerns within Congress, as it was feared his exit might impact votes in Nagpur West, North, South, and Kamptee—areas with a significant Muslim electorate. Nagpur Central, the seat Ahmed had hoped to contest, also has a large Muslim and Halba community presence. Still, the party went ahead and fielded Shelke.

News of Ahmed’s nomination under the VBA initially buoyed supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who are hoping to split the anti-BJP vote. However, Ahmed’s missed deadline has dashed their hopes.

However, there is speculation that last-minute calls from senior Congress leaders discouraged Ahmed from filing his nomination papers. ‘Missing the deadline’ was a face-saving manoeuvre on Ahmed’s part to avoid offending VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar, said a senior Congress leader.

However, Ahmed denied any external pressure, maintaining that his inability to file was solely due to delays caused by the security staff at the election office. Vishal Meshram, the returning officer, refuted this, asserting that Ahmed reached his office only after the deadline to file the nomination papers and hence his papers were not accepted.

Once a close associate of the late Ahmed Patel and a dedicated Gandhi family loyalist, Ahmed was sidelined in favour of Bunty Shelke, a youth leader and 2019 Assembly runner-up, as Congress’s candidate. The BJP, meanwhile, has fielded Pravin Datke, an MLC, replacing its incumbent three-time MLA, Vikas Kumbhare.