In a run-up to the BMC elections, for which the schedule hasn’t been announced yet, the ward reservation lottery process on Tuesday sealed the fate of many sitting and aspiring corporators. Many sitting corporators have lost their wards owing to reservation.
Standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav, who was recently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in a FEMA violation case, opposition leader Ravi Raja, BEST chairman Ashish Chemburkar and BJP group leader Prabhakar Shinde are a few big names who will have to either lose their ward or will have to search for a new ward to run for the election.
Jadhav had won the election from the Mazgaon area, but that ward is now reserved for women. Similarly, former mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar’s Santacruz East ward is also reserved for women. Chemburkar was elected from the Worli area but that ward is now reserved for a Scheduled caste candidate. Raja, Shinde, and former BJP corporator Vinod Mishra’s wards are also reserved for women candidates. Mayor Kishori Pednekar’s ward has been kept in open category; she will have to convince the party chief for the ticket.
Sanjay Turde, the one and only corporator from the MNS, will also have to look for another ward to run for the BMC poll as his original ward has also been reserved for a woman candidate. A close aide of Aaditya Thackeray, Wadala corporator from the Shiv Sena Amey Ghole, and Sena stalwart Mangesh Satamkar’s wards have also been reserved for women.
The ward reservation process has affected almost every political party. Hence, many are trying to contest elections from other wards or will give candidature to women family members.
Corporators, whose wards are now reserved for women
BJP
Prabhakar Shinde, Abhijit Samant, Vinod Mishra, Jagdish Oza, Akash Purohit, Neil Somaiya, Harish Bhandirge, Dipak Thakur, Harsh Patel, Sandip Patel, Makrand Narvekar, Atul Shah, Pankaj Yadav, Shivkumar Jha and Bala Tawade
Congress
Ravi Raja, Ashraf Azami, Asif Zakeria, Virendra Choudhary, Sufiyan Vanu
Shiv Sena
Yashwant Jadhav, Rajul Patel, Vitthal Lokre, Sanjay Ghadi, Chandrashekhar Vayangankar, Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, Raju Pednekar, Mangesh Satamkar, Upendra Sawant, Umesh Mane, Parmeshwar Kadam, Amey Ghole, Ashish Chemburkar, Sadanand Parab, Swapnil Tembawlkar.
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