Brihanmumbai Municipal corporation (BMC) drew a reservation lottery last Friday. In the process, as per rule, 50 percent of wards were kept reserved for the women candidates including SC, ST and OBC. However, wards of many existing and experience women corporators become open category wards in this lottery system.
These women corporators have a strong hold in their respective wards and they can win the election from these wards. So, the party can give them chance to contest elections from their existing wards. If it happens then the percentage of women corporators will go up to 60 percent.
For example wards of Mayor Kishori Pednekar, Shradhha Jadhav, and Shiv Sena group leader Vishakha Raut are now wards for the open category from which any candidate can claim to contest the election. So, the party may give them chance to contest elections from their existing wards.
Similarly, some of the existing BJP women corporator wards have also become open wards. Wards of Asawari Patil, Bina Doshi, Sunita Yadav, Daksha Patel, Sejal Desai are also open wards. They can also claim on their wards.
Interestingly, Shital Mhatre, a rebellion who recently left Shiv Sena and joined the Eknath Shinde group, had her ward is also open ward.
It has been seen that in the past Shiv Sena had given chance to their women candidates from open category wards.
There are 236 electoral wards in the upcoming election. Out of 236 wards, 118 wards were kept open for women candidates.
In the election of 2017, out of 227 wards, There were 113 wards were reserved for women candidates. Still, 19 women candidates had fought and won the election from the open category. And the number of Women corporator had gone to 131 corporators.
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