Deadline looming, parties rush to name candidates for Maharashtra civic polls

With the nomination window closing on December 30 for the Maharashtra municipal corporation polls scheduled for January 15, political parties are in a frenetic rush to finalise their candidates. On Monday, several parties released the candidates’ list and issued AB forms to the contestants.

The Congress, after announcing an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), released a list of 87 candidates, while VBA announced names of 10 candidates. The list includes a mix of candidates representing various castes and religions, including OBC, Maratha, Dalit, and others.

The VBA has decided to contest in 62 seats, while the Congress will contest in 165 out of a total of 227 seats.

“This is a historic alliance as it could be a direction of politics in Maharashtra. Now that an alliance has been made, both the Congress and VBA will work together, keeping our ideology intact,” said Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, which will be contesting against its ally Congress and Mahayuti’s BJP-Shiv Sena, and NCP, have issued AB forms to at least 60 candidates on Monday. Among the notable contestants are former MP and party secretary Vinayak Raut’s son Geetesh Raut, MLA Sunil Prabhu’s son Ankit Prabhu, MLA Haroon Khan’s daughter Saba Haroon Khan. They have also introduced a few new faces.

Following the marathon meetings, the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have an agreement for over 207 seats. However, the decision on 20 seats is pending. “Shiv Sena will contest 79 seats, BJP 128 seats, and the rest of the seats will be decided based on Opposition candidates in those constituencies,” said Ameet Satam, Mumbai BJP president.

The BJP issued AB forms to at least 66 candidates, including Tejasvi Goshalkar, who recently quit Shiv Sena (UBT), Neil Somaiya, son of Kirit Somaiya, Makarand Narvekar, and Ravi Raja.

Thackeray cousins – Raj and Udhhav – are banking on the agenda of Marathi manoos, while the BJP is focusing on hard-Hindutva and urban development projects. Meanwhile, the Congress is pressing on the corruption during the Mahayuti government and pushing issues like air pollution and other civic problems.

With various alliances and combinations in place, Mumbai will witness a four-pronged contest and new entrants contesting for the first time. With Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s MNS union, Congress-VBA alliance, BJP-Shiv Sena partnership, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, and APP’s entry, the BMC elections are going to be a competitive battle.

Sharad Pawar’s NCP, which released the list of seven candidates on Monday, is likely to go with Shiv Sena (UBT). However, there has been no formal announcement yet.

Earlier, the elections had been between Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-SP, and Congress and Mahayuti- Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP-AP. The Aam Aadmi Party has entered the BMC elections for the first time, announcing names of 51 candidates so far, with plans to contest all 227 wards.