First nomination in Jaipur after chant of Ganesh mantra
Ghanshyam Tiwari, BJP legislator from Sanganer Assembly constituency in Jaipur district, entered room No. 50 on the ground floor of the district collector’s office at 1.22pm and waited for 13 minutes for the ‘auspicious’ moment before filing his nomination papers.
In the office of returning officer Jagat Rajeshwar, Tiwari began chanting a mantra before the idol of Lord Ganesh on his son Akhilesh’s mobile phone around 1.35am and submitted his papers soon after. Tiwari spent around half an hour in the returning officer’s room.
The BJP legislator, considered chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s baiter, recently floated his own political party, Bharat Vahini Party, and is contesting on the party’s ticket from the constituency that he represented thrice (in 2003, 2008 and 2013). Tiwari is the state president of BVP. His son, Akhilesh, is its national president. The party is fielding candidates on around 60 seats in December 7 Assembly elections.
The 72-year-old MLA announced on Sunday that he will be the first one to file his nomination paper in Jaipur district on Monday to maintain his record. “I have always been the first one to file papers,” he said.
Tiwari left his house in Shyam Nagar area 30 minutes past noon and offered prayers at a Hanuman temple, quaintly called the Petrol Pump Wale Balaji. Around 1.10pm, he reached gate No. 3 of the district collector’s office, where police officers reminded him that he could take only five people with him to the RO office.
His wife, son and three supporters were with him during the time of filing papers. Tiwari used Akhilesh’s golden pen to sign the nomination papers.
“In 1980, when I contested my first election on BJP ticket from Sikar, I was the first to file nomination. Now after creating my own party, I am again the first one to file the nomination,” he said.
Two other candidates turned up to file their nominations from Sanganer constituency but could not complete the formalities. One of them was District Congress Committee vice-president, Rameshwar Prasad Sharma.
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