28-year-old says he wanted to highlight that the coin is not considered legal tender by local traders

Inspired by a film, a 28-year-old candidate from Latur Assembly seat has paid his poll deposit amount in ₹10 coins to highlight the fact that the coin is not being accepted as legal tender by local traders.

Santosh Sabde, who is contesting as an Independent from the central Maharashtra town, said Election Commission (EC) officials on Friday were hesitant to accept the deposit in coins, but “acquiesced eventually”. An Assembly poll candidate has to pay ₹10,000 as deposit. Friday was the last day to file nominations for the October 21 elections.

Flagging the issue

Makrand Anaspure-starrer Gallit Gondhal Dillit Mujra, a 2009 Marathi film, has a sequence where the protagonist, who is contesting an election, pays the deposit in coins, and officials sweat it out while counting them.

Speaking over phone on Saturday, Mr. Sabde, who is pursuing a law degree, said he took his cue from the film, “but for a public cause”. “I had watched the film. The idea to pay deposit amount in coins came from there,” he said.

“I don’t know why, but people in Latur are reluctant to use or accept ₹10 coin in transactions at any level despite it being legal tender. So I decided to pay the deposit in ₹10 coins to flag the issue,” Mr. Sabde said. He collected coins from people who could not spend them as it was considered “unacceptable,” he said.

Election officials were reluctant to accept the coins initially, after which he approached the local media. Mr. Sabde said, “The EC officials contacted me when they learnt I was speaking to the media. First they said they will accept ₹1,000 in coins and the remaining amount in notes. But I insisted that coins were legal tender and must be accepted. Eventually, they acquiesced.”