Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Maharashtra state president Sunil Tatkare, on Sunday released its first list of 37 candidates for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Notably, three family members of former minister and party’s in-charge for the BMC polls Nawab Malik have been given nominations. They include Malik’s brother Abdul Rashid (Kaptan) Malik, his sister Saeeda Khan and Abdul Rashid (Kaptan) Malik’s daughter-in-law Bushra Malik.
The list features a mix of experienced leaders and new faces. Among the prominent candidates is Dhananjay (Dada) Pisal, who has been fielded from Ward 111. Pisal quit the Sharad Pawar-led NCP earlier in the day and joined the NCP.
The candidates represent diverse castes and communities, including Maratha, OBC, Muslim, Christian, Scheduled Castes and women, in line with the party’s ideology inspired by the progressive thoughts of Shivaji, Phule, Shahu and Ambedkar.
The party is likely to announce a second list of 32 candidates later tonight and another list on Monday. Party legislator Sana Malik had said last week that the NCP may field around 100 candidates in the civic polls.
The development comes amid a complex seat-sharing situation within the ruling Mahayuti alliance, where the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena remain dominant players. The NCP has not found a place in the Mahayuti so far, despite Tatkare holding meetings with BJP’s BMC election in-charge and state IT Minister Ashish Shelar.
The BJP has repeatedly stated that it would not tie up with the NCP, citing the fact that the party’s election management committee is headed by former minister Nawab Malik, who is currently out on bail in a money laundering case.
With the release of its first list of candidates, the NCP has decided to go solo instead of waiting further for seat-sharing talks with the BJP.
The party has announced that it will begin distributing ‘AB Forms’ (official party nomination letters) to the announced candidates from Monday. December 30 is the last date for filing nominations, while polling is scheduled for January 15.
–IANS
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