Campaigning starts, parties go slow on list

Major parties complete interviewing aspirants, delay announcement fearing rebellion; have asked workers to go ahead with campaigning

VASHI: Even as the municipal corporation elections are only three weeks away, major political parties are yet to come out with names of their candidates.

In a bid to curb rebellion in the party, the four major parties are likely to give their candidates the application form on the last date for filing nomination papers, said leaders. Unlike the major parties, candidates from small parties such as Peasants and Workers party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have started filing nominations and will start campaigning.

Campaigning has started at some nodes on a slow note.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has instructed come of its ticket aspirants from Nerul and Belapur to start campaigning. Some of the prominent names from the two wards are Rupali Bhagat, DD Kolte, advocate Sapana Gawdee, Vishal Dolas, Ashok Gawade and Jyoti Lokhande.

The Congress is said to have finalised 65 aspirants and is likely to announce the names on Thursday.

Although the Shiv Sena has interviewed 562 aspirants, it will not declare the names any time soon. The party’s deputy leader Vijay Nahata said: “We will declare our candidates as late as possible. We do not want to give the other parties time to strategise based on our candidates.”

The party has promised to give candidates from other parties more than one ticket, leaving its workers annoyed. The party is likely to face rebellion. Thane member of Parliament Rajan Vichare and Nahata under the guidance of Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde have finalised the list of candidates and sent it to Matoshree for approval, say sources.

On Sunday and Monday, a committee comprising leader of house in Mira- Bhayandar Municipal Corporation Rohidas Patil and district leader Monaj Kotak under the guidance of BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar interviewed ticket aspirants. The list of candidates will be sent to parliamentary board of the party for approval, said the party general secretary Varsha Bhosle.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Ashok Chavan showed willingness to form an alliance with the NCP but the latter has entrusted the party’s Navi Mumbai unit chief Ganesh Naik with the responsibility for alliance with Congress.

Naik feels an alliance will not help as both the parties have been at loggerheads with each other at the local level.

BACHCHAN KUMAR With three weeks left for the NMMC polls, a vendor tries to cash in on the demand for election paraphernalia at his stall in Palm Beach Road.