Rahul Gandhi, Jayant Patil, Mohammed Arif Khan in the fray

February 17 is the D-day for Rahul Gandhi, Jayant Patil and Mohammed Arif Khan. For, this day will decide if Gandhi (Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi), Patil (MNS) and Khan (Bahujan Samajwadi Party) have become BMC corporators.

February 17 is the D-day for Rahul Gandhi, Jayant Patil and Mohammed Arif Khan. For, this day will decide if Gandhi (Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi), Patil (MNS) and Khan (Bahujan Samajwadi Party) have become BMC corporators.

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For some contestants, apart from proving their political supremacy, the battle is of identity, quite literally. Like the three, several namesakes are contesting the polls.

For instance, ward no. 195, covering areas such as Naigaon and BDD chawls, will witness a battle between Congress corporator Sunil More and his namesake, Sunil More, an independent. Borivli’s ward no. 5 will witness a fight between two Sanjay Ghadis — one from the Shiv Sena, and the other an independent.

Congress corporator, Sheetal Mhatre, however, got lucky. Standing from ward number 3, Mhatre’s namesake, Sheetal Mhatre from the Shiv Sena, is contesting from the neighbouring ward no. 2.

NCP’s group leader in the corporation, Niyaz Ahmed Vanu, will encounter Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh, a candidate from the Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh.

“The politics is played on two counts — either have a contestant with the name of a famous personality or with a name similar to that of a strong candidate in that ward to confuse voters,” said a political insider.