BJP corporator Shelar decides not to contest

The first big political casualty of the new ward reservations is Ashish Shelar, BJP corporator from Khar and group leader in the civic body, who has decided against contesting the civic polls after his ward got reserved for women.

The first big political casualty of the new ward reservations is Ashish Shelar, BJP corporator from Khar and group leader in the civic body, who has decided against contesting the civic polls after his ward got reserved for women.

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Shelar is not alone. Reservations combined with coalition dynamics mean that many sitting corporators have lost their seats and are scurrying to find a suitable ward. In the end, many corporators will either not get a ticket or get a ticket from a new ward and risk defeat.

After his ward got reserved, Vinod Ghedia, former deputy mayor and Borivli corporator, too, has decided not to ask for a ticket.

Dilip Patel, former BEST chairman and Goregaon corporator, is hunting for a ticket as his current seat has been reserved.

In the Congress, several senior corporators, including Vinod Shekhar, Dharmesh Vyas and Sameer Desai, have lost their wards to new reservations. Sources said the party has zeroed in on alternatives for Shekhar and Desai, but there is a tussle for Kalina village that Vyas has asked for.

In the NCP, though group leader Niyaz Vanu has asked for ward no. 171, his fate hangs in balance as the Congress-NCP talks are yet to be concluded.

Shelar is a popular corporator and has won twice earlier as well as stood for the 2009 Assembly polls from Bandra west, where he lost by a wafer-thin margin, but he does not want to contest from ward no. 95, the only open ward in the area.

While insiders said he was not sure of fighting from a Congress stronghold, Shelar said: "I did not find it right for me to stand as the candidate from a ward which isn't originally mine as that ward has many deserving BJP candidates." The party wanted to give Shelar's wife a ticket, but she declined the offer.