Madhya Pradesh: Parmanand Tolani filed his nomination on Saturday as an independent candidate. (File)
Hope is the last thing that one loses, it is said, and a 62-year-old real estate businessman from Indore in Madhya Pradesh is perhaps on a mission to prove that.
Despite having lost his security deposit 17 times earlier in different elections, the sexagenerian has filed his nomination paper for the mayoral elections in Indore scheduled next month.
In fact, the family of this businessman - Parmanand Tolani - with a non-political background is known for its unique tradition of contesting elections for two generations without any electoral victory and constantly losing deposits every time.
Officials said that Parmanand Tolani filed his nomination on Saturday as an independent candidate for the post of mayor in Indore Municipal Corporation, for which polling is to be held on July 6.
Talking to PTI on Sunday, Parmanand Tolani, popularly known as "Indori Dhartipakad", said, "This will be the 18th election of my life as a candidate. I have contested a total of 17 elections. They included polls for the post of mayor, as well as Lok Sabha and Assembly elections." The real estate businessman said that despite forfeiture of deposits every time, he has not given up and continues to follow his "family tradition" by contesting elections again.
"My father, Metharam Tolani, fought different elections continuously for 30 years during his lifetime. After his death in 1988, I started contesting elections from 1989 onwards," he said.
He said that he had once fielded his wife Laxmi Tolani in the civic elections as the mayoral candidate, then the seat was reserved for women candidates.