Of the 60-odd corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation who had hoped to contest the Assembly elections, 17 will eventually take on senior politicians, 16 with party tickets and the 17th as a rebel. Several of Mumbai’s seats will see corporators take on the current MLAs.

The Shiv Sena has been the most generous with tickets to eight corporators, followed by the Congress with four and the BJP with three. One MNS corporator will contest, while the 17th is NCP corporator Ajit Ravrane who has rebelled against the Congress-NCP alliance’s official candidate in Dindoshi, Rajhans Singh.

Fielding corporators is a political strategy; as a senior BJP leader put it: “People know them as they are elected representatives and have development work to show as their credentials.”

“Most MLAs are not even seen in their constituency after being elected,”said a corporator contesting from the suburbs. “But people know corporators’ offices and residences; they even have our numbers and can bank on us. Moreover they know that we work in the wards.”

The Sena has pitched several corporators against senior Congress MLAs. Ravindra Waikar will contest against Bhai Jagtap (Jogeshwari East), Vishnu Korgaonkar against Ashok Jadhav (Andheri West), Yashodhar Phanse against Baldev Khosa (Versova), Ramesh Latke against Suresh Shetty (Andheri East), Yeshwant Jadhav against Madhu Chavan (Byculla) and Ashish Chemburkar against NCP MLA Sachin Ahir.

BJP leader in the BMC Ashish Shelar, who has been active in Bandra West over the last two years, is taking on the Congress’s Baba Siddique whose influence, especially in the slum areas of Vandre (West), has remained strong for two decades.

... contd.