Candidate for UP bypoll offers ₹15K deposit in coins
KANPUR: An independent candidate for the upcoming assembly byelection in Sikandra, Kanpur Dehat took the officials at the collectorate by surprise when he offered ₹15,000 in coins to pay for deposit while filing his nomination papers.
Prof VN Pal, a former mathematics teacher at the CSJM University, packed the coins in a bag which one of his supporters carried to the office of the returning officer. Prof Pal wanted to raise the problems of the people by paying in coins. Loose change has become a problem in Kanpur where coins worth ₹200 crore are in circulation and banks are not accepting them.
“Banknotes are not easily available and coins are not accepted anywhere. I thought the returning officer will accept the coins as banks are not taking them,” said Prof Pal. “People contributed to my campaign in coins. I could not stop them ...” he said.
“Security personnel tried to stop me from taking them inside ...” Pal said.
He, however, could not file his nomination due to errors in the form and the absence of 10 proposers. “I was stopped from filing the papers several times and was not allowed to go inside the office ...with the coins,” he said. Officials said his papers were incomplete.
He got the chance in the evening but again it was rejected. “Pal’s papers were not complete and he did not have 10 proposers. As a result, his nomination was not accepted,” returning officer Dipali Kaushik said.