Polls for ward panel heads begin today, MIM to make debut

Mumbai: With elections to all statutory committees in BMC now concluded, the chairpersons of the 17 civic ward committees will be elected on Thursday, Friday and March 9.Ward committee chairmanships are determined by the party with the most corporators in a ward. These committees are pivotal to the city's day-to-day civic administration as they are empowered to clear local works worth up to Rs 5 lakh, including drainage repairs, water supply connections, leakages and water meter installations.
The chairmanship of the four statutory committees is shared between BJP (all-powerful standing committee and education committee) and Shiv Sena (improvements and BEST committees). Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress in the opposition did not have the adequate strength in the civic House to chair any of these panels. With the ward committees, though, the situation is different. BJP is expected to lead close to half the panels and the remaining are to be headed by Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and AIMIM in its debut role from M-East, where it has the most corporators. Parties began filing nominations across multiple wards on Wednesday. Eleven of the 17 committees will see unopposed elections, with only one nomination filed in each. In one committee covering S and T wards, both governing and opposition parties propped up candidates. The outcome there will hinge on whom Congress decides to back. The election to the chair of P East-P West ward committee will be a keenly watched battle since NCP (SP)'s lone corporator Ajit Raorane, who had extended support to Sena ahead of the mayoral poll, will face Haider Ali Shaikh, son of Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh.In G-North ward, however, both Sena (UBT) (Joseph Koli) and MNS (Yashwant Killedar) entered the fray. The buzz was that Sena (UBT) could eventually cede the seat to MNS. MNS had earlier sought representation from Sena (UBT)'s nominated corporator quota but did not secure a berth, fuelling speculation that G-North could be offered as a compromise. From BJP, Rohidas Lokhande was nominated for A, B and E ward committees, from where Congress's Dyanraj Nikam also contesting; Akash Purohit for C and D; Rohan Rathod for K-West; Prakash Musale for K-North and K-South; Shrikala Pillai for P-South; Leena Deherkar for R-South; Prakash Darekar for R-North and R-Central; Asha Marathe for M-West; Ashwini Mate for N; and Sakshi Dalvi for S and T wards. Candidates backed by Sena also entered the fray —Mansi Mangesh Satamkar for F-North and F-South, Vijayendra Shinde for L, and Pragya Sadafule for M-East. Among Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators who filed their nominations was Padmaja Chemburkar in G-South ward.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Holi wishes, messages and quotes !