Keep Counting! Independent Candidate Pays For His Nomimation for Mayor Poll in Jagdalpur With Coins Worth Rs 20,000

Jagdalpur: An Independent candidate for mayor election in Jagdalpur Municipal Corporation in Bastar division gave officials a lesson in counting as he arrived to file his nomination with coins worth Rs 20,000.

Rohit Singh Arya carried with him a sack with coins weighing 70 kg to pay for his nomination much to the shock of the officials who had no option but to count the coins with patience. Arya said he is engaged in social work for the last several years. "I have been drawing the attention of the administration towards issues faced by people. I collected money from people across the town under a campaign called, 'one coin for one voter', he said. Arya said he kept coins worth Rs 1,000 in a packet and filled 19 more. "I am excited for the election. The people of the town and state encouraged me to the contest the polls," he said, adding the coins given to him by people are their blessings. On being asked why he did not pay for his nomination in currency notes, he said the coins symbolise the people's faith in him. Jitendra Srivastava, an election officer said Arya was given a receipt for his payment.

There are a total of 14 municipal corporations in Chhattisgarh and elections will be held in 10 of them. The process of reservation for the mayor posts of all 14 corporations was completed in Raipur a few days. As per the process, mayor posts have been reserved for women of general category in Raipur, Korba and Birgaon. Major political parties Congress and BJP have already announced their candidates for the elections and are gearing up for a tough fight.