In a dramatic display of political realignment ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated several high-profile leaders who recently switched sides from opposition parties. The swiftest transition was witnessed on Monday when former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator Rakhi Jadhav joined the BJP and was declared its candidate within hours.
Swift Reward for Switching Sides
Rakhi Jadhav, who served as a group leader for the NCP in the previous BMC general body, formally joined the BJP in Ghatkopar East on Monday afternoon. The event took place in the presence of BJP MLA Parag Shah. Merely a few hours later, Shah announced via social media that Jadhav would be the party's candidate from Ward 131 – the very ward she previously represented for the NCP.
Explaining her decision, Jadhav stated she was inspired by the development works across Mumbai and wanted similar progress for Ghatkopar. She also mentioned a desire to better serve her party workers as key reasons for the move.
High-Profile Turncoats Get BJP Tickets
Jadhav is not alone. The BJP's candidate list for the January 15 elections features at least three former opposition corporators. The most prominent among them is Ravi Raja, the opposition leader in the previous BMC house. A five-term Congress corporator, Raja joined the BJP last year after his former party denied him a ticket for the assembly elections.
With his former seat in F-North Ward (Ward 176) now reserved, Raja has been nominated from Ward 195 in Dharavi. His candidature, however, faced protests from some local BJP workers at the Dadar office who expressed unfamiliarity with him. Raja remained hopeful, expressing confidence that the party would find a place for him.
In another significant shift, Devendra Ambekar, a former Congress leader who was the opposition leader in the 2012 BMC, will contest on a BJP ticket from Ward 63 in Andheri. Ambekar had earlier switched to the Shiv Sena (UBT) before moving to the BJP. He noted that the ward largely comprises his old constituency, except for a few new areas. He lost this ward to BJP's Rohan Rathod in the 2017 civic elections.
Last-Minute Nominations and Alliance Dynamics
The BJP's candidate announcement process saw last-minute activity. Several candidates who received the party's 'AB' forms late Sunday night and early Monday rushed to file their nominations. In the absence of an official list, some candidates took to social media to declare their candidature.
Tejinder Singh Tiwana, the party's Yuva Morcha president, announced his candidacy from Ward 47 via a short video. Tejasvee Ghosalkar, who joined the BJP less than two weeks ago, declared herself the candidate from Ward 2. In the island city, aspirants like Ajay Patil (Ward 214), Santosh Dhale (215), Snehal Tendulkar (218), and Sunny Sanap (219) distributed pamphlets announcing their bids.
BJP Mumbai unit president Ameet Satam clarified that the party gave the green light to candidates for seats cleared by its 'Mahayuti' allies, following an understanding with the Shiv Sena. He promised to share the official candidate list soon.
These moves underscore the intense reshuffling of party loyalties as political formations fine-tune their strategies for the high-stakes battle to control India's richest municipal corporation.
