3-way fight between Sena, Congress-NCP and BJP for Mumbai civic committee polls

The elections for the chairpersonship of several committees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expected to witness a three-way fight between the

The elections for the chairpersonship of several committees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expected to witness a three-way fight between the Shiv Sena, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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The elections to the chairpersons’ post will begin from Monday for the standing committee which has financial powers; the improvements’ committee that deals with land leases and other city properties; the education committee which handles primary and secondary education in Mumbai; and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) committee.

The members of the committees (except for BEST) are elected from among the elected corporators, who then elect the chairpersons. In the case of BEST, non-elected persons can also be nominated by the parties.

Currently, all these committees are dominated by the Sena and the party is likely to retain hold in the elections, as it has majority of members in the panels.

The Congress-NCP was expecting control of at least one committee each in return for their support to the Sena in the state government.

The Shiv Sena does not have a clear majority in the civic body, but it is not willing to share power with the Congress-NCP, which are in the Opposition. The Sena has 97 elected representatives in the civic house of 227, and is short of 17 representatives for securing a simple majority of 114. However, it has managed to remain in power as the Opposition is divided. The Congress has 29 representatives, while the NCP has eight.

The Shiv Sena does not wish to dilute its hold over one of the richest civic bodies in the country and has decided to field its candidates for all the committees.

With 83 seats in the corporation, the BJP is the second largest party and is also in the Opposition. The party has maintained that it will field candidates for all committees and is considering all its options.

Bhalchandra Shirsat, BJP corporator and member of the standing committee, said, “We are fielding candidates for all the committees as we are the second largest party and the Opposition in true nature.”

The Congress has also announced to contest for all committees. It has claimed the support of the NCP and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has six elected representatives.

Congress corporator Ravi Raja, who is the leader of Opposition in the BMC, said, “We are in the Opposition and we will field our candidates for all the committees. We have support of the NCP and the SP, and we are not seeking support of any other party.”

The other smaller parties include All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) with two representatives and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) with one corporator.

The representation for each party to these committees is given based on the strength of the party’s elected corporators. The members have a two-year tenure, while the chairpersons will have a tenure of one year.

Meanwhile last week, Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav, who is also the sitting chairman of BMC’s standing committee from the past two years, filed his nomination for a third term. Sandhya Doshi, Sena’s corporator from Gorai, has filed her nomination for the education committee chairperson’s post.

BJP has fielded Colaba corporator Makrand Narvekar for the standing committee chairperson’s post, while Kandivli corporator Surekha Patil is pitted against Doshi. From the Congress, Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria will contest for the standing committee, while Chembur corporator Sangita Handore is the party candidate for education committee chairperson’s post.

Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said, “It is highly unlikely that there will be any cross-voting, wherein Congress will get votes from the BJP. However, despite not having majority, the Congress may be fielding its candidate to stay relevant politically. The BJP is fielding candidates because it has to be active, being the second largest party in the BMC.”

Jondhale added, “Whether the MVA parties will fight the 2022 BMC elections together or not will also depend on how sustainable their alliance is in the state. If they don’t fight together, it may also mean that Shiv Sena does not want to share power with anyone when it comes to BMC.”