BMC polls: Victory margins to fall with more candidates, major parties contesting separately

In 37 of the 227 wards in the city, there are 15 or more candidates vying for your vote.

Here is another reason why each vote will count this civic elections. In 37 of the 227 wards in the city, there are 15 or more candidates vying for your vote. A majority of these wards are in the eastern suburbs followed by some in the western suburbs. The contest will also be close in a large number of wards as there will be three to five prominent candidates with former allies, BJP and Shiv Sena, as well as the Congress and NCP contesting separately.

Victory margins to fall with more candidates, major parties contesting separately . (HT)

More candidates translate into a division of votes. With 40,000 voters in a ward on average and more candidates than ever , every vote will have more importance. The highest number of candidates are in ward no. 164, which covers Kurla, with 31 candidates, followed by 23 candidates in Ghatkopar and Chembur. In the 2012 elections, there were 33 from the Deonar Abattoir area.

In the 2012 elections, the winning margin was less than 500 votes for 35 seats, while the number of such winning seats in 2007 was 28.

In 2017, 91 lakh voters will choose from 2,276 candidates, as against the 2,236 last elections, spread across 227 wards. Voters of each ward may be split among four to five major candidates and in some cases, even among six candidates depending on the profiles of the wards.

For the first time in the past two decades, all major political parties are contesting the elections for the country’s richest civic body separately. The ruling parties in the civic body — the BJP and the Shiv Sena — snapped ties after 22 years over a disagreement on the number of seats to be shared.

On the other hand, only three wards have three candidates vying for your vote, followed by 15 wards with four candidates each.

2017 elections

2,276 candidates in this election

91 lakh voters in this election

31 candidates — the highest — from ward no. 164 (Kurla)

3 candidates — the lowest — in three wards

4 candidates in 15 wards

40,000 voters in a ward on an average

2012 elections

2, 236 candidates in the 2012 election

33 candidates — the highest — from Deonar Abattoir area

3 candidates — the lowest — in 17 wards out of 227

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