The scrutiny process for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections has delivered a significant blow to several political parties, with numerous candidates, including those from the Congress, BJP, AAP, and NCP (SP), finding their nominations rejected. Election officials confirmed the disqualifications, citing incomplete documentation, errors in forms, and the failure to submit mandatory certificates as the primary reasons.
Last-Minute Rush Leads to Disqualifications
A total of 2,516 nomination papers were filed by the final deadline of December 30. The examination of these forms on Wednesday revealed a pattern of disqualifications across party lines. Officials attributed the high number of rejections to the last-minute scramble by parties, which finalized seat-sharing and issued crucial 'A' and 'B' forms only in the final two to three days to prevent internal rebellion. This led to a rush of filings on December 29 and 30, resulting in oversights.
Delays in finalizing candidatures, hurried documentation, non-submission of caste validity certificates, and incomplete details were the common pitfalls. Officials stated clearly that candidates whose nominations were rejected will not be able to contest the elections. The final electoral landscape will become clear after all statutory procedures related to the scrutiny are completed.
Ward-by-Ward Impact on Major Parties and Independents
While independent candidates faced the highest number of rejections, established political parties were not spared. In a specific breakdown, the nomination of NCP (SP) candidate Bharat Danani from ward 109 was rejected. A Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in the F-South ward (wards 200 to 206) was disqualified because a proposer's name appeared twice on the form.
The Congress and AAP both suffered setbacks in ward 226. Congress candidate Manoj Kanojiya and AAP's Navnath Lalge saw their nominations rejected for the same reason: failure to submit the required caste certificate. Meanwhile, BJP candidates from wards 211 and 212 had their papers rejected due to incomplete documents and other deficiencies.
Independent candidates bore the brunt in several areas. All 12 nominations rejected in G-South wards (193 to 199) were from independents. Similarly, six rejected nominations in ward 109 were independents, with several others disqualified in T division (wards 103 to 108) and L ward (wards 163, 171, and 175).
Electoral Context and Upcoming Schedule
The BMC, India's richest municipal corporation, comprises 227 electoral wards. The metropolis has a total of 1,03,44,315 registered voters, including 55,16,707 male, 48,26,509 female, and 1,099 'Other' voters. The upcoming polls are crucial, with the political landscape having shifted since the last civic polls in 2017.
Back then, the undivided Shiv Sena won 84 seats. Of those winners, 46 have now joined the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The BJP had secured 82 seats, and has since been joined by six former corporators from other parties. The Congress had won 31 seats, followed by the NCP with 9.
The elections for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations are scheduled for January 15, with vote counting set for the next day. The nomination process began on December 23 and ended on December 30. January 2 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations, and the final list of candidates will be published on January 3.
