Mumbai, Jan 3 (IANS) The high-voltage battle for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has drawn attention not only from Maharashtra but across the country, has now taken a clear shape with direct contests emerging among major political formations.
A straight fight between Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will take place on 69 seats. At the same time, the BJP and the Thackeray faction will be locked in a direct contest on 97 seats, while the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shinde faction will face each other on 18 seats. With multiple direct contests, the BMC elections are set to be a fiercely competitive affair.
For the 227-member BMC, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 163 seats, the BJP 137 seats, the Shinde faction 90 seats, the MNS 53 seats, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) 11 seats, while the Congress is contesting between 143 and 150 seats. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is contesting 46 seats.
Although elections are scheduled to be held for 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, the focus remains firmly on the BMC, which is the biggest civic body in the state with 227 seats and as many as 1,700 candidates in the fray.
While the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has held power in Mumbai for the past 25 years, the split within the party, the growing strength of the BJP and the increasing population of Mumbai have significantly altered the political landscape. The current election is widely expected to be a closely fought contest.
Following the completion of the nomination withdrawal process on Friday, the final contours of the contests have emerged. According to State Election Commission data, Shiv Sena (UBT) is engaged in a direct face-off with the Shinde faction on 69 seats and with the BJP on 97 seats.
In addition, the MNS and the Shinde faction are locked in one-to-one contests on 18 seats, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) is facing the BJP and the Shinde faction on five seats each.
In several civic bodies, including Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli, candidates from the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena have been elected unopposed, triggering political debate. MNS chief Raj Thackeray is reportedly planning to raise the issue and “expose” the circumstances surrounding these unopposed victories during his forthcoming rallies.
MNS leaders are also said to have handed over call recordings, videos and other materials related to the unopposed wins to Raj Thackeray. As a result, the MNS has adopted an aggressive posture over the issue in the ongoing municipal elections.
(Sanjay Jog can be contacted on sanjay.j@ians.in)
–IANS
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