In bizarre sequence of events, a rejected Congress nominee for the post of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) had to file her nomination papers as the party’s official candidate could not reach in time to meet the filing deadline.
Congress state unit vice president Madhu Jain’s name was announced in Delhi on Sunday evening as the party’s official candidate.
This came as a surprise to everyone in the state unit as the party had recommended Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh loyalist Sudhakar Gangane and Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, considered close to Revenue Minister Narayan Rane.
Hectic lobbying was made by both pro and anti- Deshmukh camps in the state Congress to ensure that a neutral third person got the party’s nomination. The reason cited for demanding the cancellation of Jain’s nomination was that she is a close relative of NCP rebel MLA Sureshdada Jain and nominating her would have irked Congress coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In such a circumstance, it would have been difficult to ensure Madhu Jain’s victory.
Accepting the state Congress’ argument, this morning the name of former Union Minister in NDA government Subodh Mohite (who joined Congress around a year back) was announced as the compromise candidate. But as fate would have it there was no flight available for him to fly from Nagpur to Mumbai, so he chose to fly to Pune. From Pune, he was to take a chartered helicopter to Mumbai. However, as President Pratibha Patil was schedule to fly back from Pune to Delhi, Pune airport was closed for two hours in the afternoon.
So, finally, when Mohite made it to Mumbai, it was already 3 pm, the deadline for the submission of nomination papers.
When Mohite could not reach the Vidhan Bhavan by 2.30 pm, state Congress president Manikrao Thakre took permission from the high command to allow Madhu Jain to file her nomination papers. And when the returning officer accepted Jain’s nomination paper, it was exactly 2.59 pm. The party is now grappling with the problem of managing Mohite’s hurt feelings and ensuring NCP votes for Jain.