New reservations shift ticket battle to neighbouring seats

With many of the city's most prominent corporators having lost their electoral wards to reservations, the February 16 elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expected to see close contests and face-offs between some of the city's political heavyweights eyeing neighbouring wards.

With number of open seats also going down significantly, many top corporators will now be pitted against one another.

BJP strongman and Improvements Committee chairman Bhalchandra Shirsat has lost his Ward 127 to reservation (from OBC to women) he will contest from a neighbouring ward and in all likelihood be pitted against former BJP stalwart Pravin Chheda who recently shifted allegiance to the Congress.

"Although the party has not decided the candidate from my neighbouring ward I will apply for that ward. Considering that many corporators have lost their wards to reservation, it is a difficult task for many corporators to find alternative wards," said Shirsat.

Of the 227 ward council seats, reservation for 224 have changed. The change is expected to see a lot of shuffling amongst corporators from each party to contest from a particular ward. Leaders of most political parties will not be able to contest from their current wards as seats reserved for women has jumped from 76 in the 2007 polls to 114 in the upcoming election.

Prominent corporators who will have to contest from nearby constituencies include leader NCP leader in the BMC, Niyaz Vanu, Congress leader Rajhans Singh, senior Congress corporator Sameer Desai, Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu, Sena corporator and BEST chairman Sunil Shinde, senior BJP corporators Manoj Kotak and Shirshat, former leader of the Sena in the BMC Prabhakar Shinde, Standing Committee chairman Rahul Shewale, among others.

Sameer Desai had faced a setback as his ward in Goregaon East has been reserved for women. He is most likely to contest against Shiv Sena's Raju Padhye who had won the bypoll from that area last year from ward 50. A tussle is on between the Congress and the NCP for Ward 50, with the NCP seeking it for trade union leader Sharad Rao's son Shashank.

... contd.

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