After 98 electoral defeats, 78-year-old Hasnuram Ambedkari 'Dharti Pakad' is eager to file his nomination in the Lok Sabha Polls. However, this won't be his first time contesting elections. He first contested state elections in 1985.
"This time, too, I am sure that I will be defeated in both seats. But my aim is to contest for the 100th time, and after that, I will not contest any election," says Ambedakri, who earns his living as an MNREGA worker.
Hailing from Kheragarh tehsil of Agra district, Ambedkari fought his first election as an Independent in March 1985 against the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) candidate from Kheragarh constituency of Agra district.
On Friday, he again had the nomination papers in his hands and said he would file them for the Agra reserved seat and Fatehpur Sikri seat.
"I have fought elections since 1985 for Gram Pradhan, state assembly, gram panchayat, MLA, MLC, and Lok Sabha. I also filed my candidature for the post of President of India, but that was rejected..," he said.
On what prompted him to contest successive elections, he told PTI, "I left my job for the post of 'Amin' in the Agra tehsil at the end of the year 1984 as I was promised a ticket by the BSP a ticket to contest from the Kheragarh seat.
"But I was later refused the ticket by the then convener of the party in the region, and he mocked me 'tumhe tumhari biwi vote nahi degi, toh koi or kya tumhe vote dega' (Even your wife will not vote for you, then why would others).
Ambedkari said that to avenge the humiliation, he contested the seat and got third place in the election. "I made my plan to contest more elections to prove that I can also get votes from people," he said.
Ambedkari's unsuccessful run in the elections has earned him the moniker of 'Dharti Pakad' given to such candidates after the famous Kaka Joginder Singh 'Dharti Pakad', who had unsuccessfully contested over 300 elections - even the presidential polls.
Ambedkari shared that he is a follower of Dalit icon Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and actively associated with the Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) from 1977 until 1985.
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