Candidates come riding horses, bullock carts and donkeys to contest elections
S.Chandrasekar entered the city corporation with saplings and nomination to contest in the election as an independent candidate.
Coimbatore:Quirky independent candidates seldom fail to add colour and comedy to serious electoral battles. They come riding horses, bullock carts and donkeys to contest elections.
But on Thursday, an Independent candidate came walking on his hands instead of heels to file the nomination papers.
A yoga and Karate teacher M. Chatrapathi, did a quick head-stand and started ambling on his nimble fingers to file the nomination for the mayoral polls. And the waiting officials and media personnel were stunned.
“The health of the city and the residents are in poor condition. I want every school child to learn yoga and protect themselves from diseases,” declared the 48-year-old philosophy graduate.
Dressed in spotless white with a Karate black belt, Chatrapathi claimed he had taught the kicks and punches of the martial arts to popular Kollywood actors.
After the "yogic" candidate, came a “green" contestant, S.Chandrasekar, carrying two saplings in his hands. He vowed to plant as many saplings as the number of votes he would get in the election.
“Transforming our Coimbatore city into a clean and green city is my motto,” said Chandrasekhar. When he attempted to enter the election office carrying the saplings along with his affidavit, the police officials stopped him and asked him to leave the saplings behind. Chandrasekar said that he wouldn’t print any election pamphlets to save paper.
“I will use social networking sites and Whats App facility. Mine is a green campaign,” he said. As the curtains came down on the filing of nominations for the mayoral elections on 18 September, as many as 29 candidates had presented their papers to jump into the fray.
And then there was a grocer, M. Ranjith Kumar (38) from Sungam, waiting in the queue to file his nominations. His reason for contesting the polls was perhaps the strangest. “I want to know how the elections are conducted. So, I am contesting. I will run my grocery store as usual,” Ranjith Kumar smiled shyly.
A social activist named A.Loganathan (48) came with his family members and waited until afternoon to file his nomination. Why is he contesting? Sorry, he does not know. But he will campaign with a poster displaying his profile, he said.
As the curtains came down on the filing of nominations for the mayoral elections on 18 September, as many as 29 candidates had presented their papers to jump into the fray.
( Source : dc )
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