Mumbai: In the upcoming Maharashtra state assembly elections on November 20, around 13 former corporators have been given tickets to contest from various political parties. Notable among them is Sandeep Deshpande from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), who will be challenging the sitting MLA Aditya Thackeray for the Worli seat.
While in the Wadala constituency, Shradha Jadhav from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Snehal Jadhav from MNS, both former corporators, are set to compete against the city's longest-serving MLA, Kalidas Kolambkar. Meanwhile, Raju Pednekar, also a former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator who did not secure a ticket, will be contesting as an independent candidate from Versova against BJP's sitting MLA Bharti Lavekar.
In the 2019 state elections, four out of the 11 former corporators from the BMC who contested were successfully elected. This upcoming election sees several such former corporators aiming to transition from local politics to state-level leadership. Political parties have strategically given tickets to some strong former corporators, believing they have the local support and experience to secure victories in the upcoming state assembly elections.
Anant 'Bala' Nar, a senior former corporator from Shiv Sena (UBT), will be contesting the Jogeshwari East seat against Manisha Waikar, the wife of BJP's MP Ravindra Waikar. In Ghatkopar West, former NCP leader in the BMC, Rakhi Jadhav, will challenge the sitting MLA Parag Shah, who has been renominated by his party. From Malad West, BJP's former corporator Vinod Shelar, will contest against sitting Congress MLA Aslam Sheikh who is representing the constituency since 2009.
Congress has fielded its senior former corporator Asif Zakaria to take on BJP's sitting MLA Adv Ashish Shelar in the high-profile Bandra West constituency. Another crucial contest will unfold in Andheri East, where Rutuja Latke the sitting MLA from Shiv Sena (UBT), will face off against Shinde Sena's candidate, also named Murji Patel, who has previously served as a corporator.
Several former corporators from Shiv Sena (UBT) such as Pravina Morajkar, Manoj Jamsutkar, Sameer Desai, and Udesh Patekar are all contesting from different constituencies, seeking to leverage their experience in local governance to secure seats at the state level and Survarna Karanje Shiv Sena (Shinde) will be competing in the elections. In a bid to engage and mobilise voters, a motorcycle rally was organised by the civic body on Saturday across key constituencies, including Dindoshi, Malad West, Goregaon, Andheri East, and Andheri West.
