Political dynasties shaping BMC polls as parties bet on captive voter bases and family ties

As the deadline for nominations for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election ended Tuesday, several political parties have nominated children of current and former MPs, MLAs, and corporators for the January 15 polls. This continues the trend of promoting members of political families as they begin their careers in electoral politics. While not common, parties have also denied tickets to certain members of political families.

Shiv Sena has issued a ticket to Deepti Waikar, who is the daughter of MP Ravindra Waikar. Deepti will contest from ward number 73 in Andheri East, making her electoral debut. Undivided Sena’s Pravin Shinde represented this constituency earlier.

Ravindra Waikar served as a four-time municipal corporator from 1992 to 2012, representing the undivided Shiv Sena. In 2009, he was elected as an MLA from Jogeshwari, and in 2024, he was elected as an MP from the Mumbai North West constituency. After the vertical split in the Sena in 2022, Waikar joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the party in 2024.

The Congress, meanwhile, has issued tickets to three members of MLA Aslam Shaikh’s family, including his son Haider. Shaikh is the legislator for Mumbai’s Malad, and two of the three corporator wards (33, 34, and 62), from which his family members will be contesting directly, fall under his legislative assembly.

His son Haider will contest in ward number 34, while his sister, Qamar Jahan Siddique, will run for election in ward number 33. In ward number 62 (Andheri West), the Congress has nominated Shaikh’s son-in-law Saif Ahad Khan.

Before this, Ward 34 was represented by Shaikh’s sister, Qamar Jahan, and Ward 33 by Vinod Choudhary. Shaikh has been a Congress MLA for Malad four times since 2009, and this constituency, which has a significant minority population, is considered a safe seat for the Congress.

Also, the Congress has issued a ticket to former state minister Aarif Naseem Khan’s son Aamir, who will be contesting from BMC’s ward number 162 at Kurla. Congress’s Wajid Qureshi represented this seat earlier. Khan was a minister in the state cabinet between 2009 and 2014.

The Congress has issued tickets to former corporator Mohsin Haider’s son Sufiyan, who will contest from BMC’s ward number 65. The party has also issued tickets to Haider’s wife Meher, who will be contesting from ward number 66. Before this, ward number 65 was represented by Congress’s Alpa Jadhav, while ward number 66 was represented by Haider himself. During the civic polls reservation process, Haider’s seat was reserved for a woman candidate.

When contacted, members of political parties said tickets have been distributed based on political merit.

“The tickets have been issued only on the basis of the political acumen of the candidates. We constituted our own screening committee that interviewed each and every aspirant before giving them the tickets,” a senior member from the Congress told the Indian Express.

Meanwhile, political observers maintained that issuing electoral tickets to family members is the easiest way for any politician to keep their political legacy alive.

“Usually, an MP or a party has their own base of existing captive voters. So it will be easier for voters to identify with their own kin rather than a fresh face. This is the reason why often party supremos give tickets to the family members of incumbent MLAs or MPs to make sure that their party retains the position in the next election,” Surendra Jondhale, a political analyst, told The Indian Express.

“Politicians are also aspirational. So they would also like to keep up their political legacy alive by pushing the candidacy of their own family members, in a way that they are able to leverage the existing voter base,” Jondhale said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has denied tickets to several candidates from political families. This includes minister Ashish Shelar’s brother Vinod, from Ward 35; MLA Manisha Chaudhary’s daughter Ankita, from Ward 8; MLA Vidya Thakur’s son Deepak, from Ward 55; MLC Rajhans Singh’s son Nitesh, from Ward 166; and former MLC Vijay Girkar’s daughter Kran.

Polling for all 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the BMC, will be held on January 15, and the counting of votes will take place on January 16.