Maharashtra Assembly polls: VBA candidate Anees Ahmed misses filing nomination by few minutes
Nagpur (PTI): High drama was witnessed at the collectorate here as former Maharashtra minister Anees Ahmed, given ticket by the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi to contest Nagpur Central seat, missed the deadline for filing nomination by just a few minutes.
Ahmed, a Gandhi family loyalist who won the Nagpur Central seat three times in the past on Congress ticket, stayed put at the collectorate till 8 pm on Tuesday, the last day of filing nominations for the state assembly polls, but in vain as his form was not accepted.
The deadline for filing of nominations for the November 20 state polls was 3 pm on Tuesday.
Talking to PTI, Ahmed claimed he had to face various obstacles like road closure, vehicular restrictions and security protocols at the office of the Returning Officer (RO) on Tuesday.
The former minister also said he was occupied during the day in securing relevant documents for the submission and reached the collectorate before the 3 pm deadline.
His associates were sitting there with his token number but he was not allowed inside the RO's office, Ahmed claimed.
Questions were being raised as to how the senior leader could miss the deadline and there were speculations that the Congress top brass made efforts to convince him not to contest.
Ahmed recently resigned from the Congress. This had led to concerns in the Congress camp about the possibility of his candidature splitting the Muslim votes and denting the grand old party's prospects while favouring the BJP.
The Congress this time did not field Ahmed from Nagpur Central constituency, which has a considerable Muslim population, and renominated Bunty Shelke, who narrowly lost to the BJP in 2019.
Ahmed was not initially keen on fighting the election, but later pitched for a ticket from the Congress, claiming Muslim leaders wanted him to contest the election for the community's representation from the seat.
He resigned from the Congress a few days back and joined the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi in Mumbai on Monday and got the 'AB' from VBA to file nomination from the seat.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had also earlier offered the ticket to Ahmed, but he then rejected it claiming loyalty to the Congress.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
