Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are witnessing a clear trend of dynasty politics across the political parties as multiple prominent politicians have secured tickets for their
family members and relatives while in some of the localities, multiple people from the same family are contesting from neighbouring wards. The “family-first” politics is being severely criticised by citizens, who have called the practice to be a “mockery of democracy.”
Final Candidate Lists Reveal Concentration of Political Power Within Families
The final lists of candidature for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections for 227 wards, being held after more than eight years, has shown an alarming trend. The candidates fielded by the major political parties reveal a significant proportion of candidates, who are either spouses, children, siblings or relatives of prominent politicians, including MLAs, MPs and former corporators.
The practice of fielding multiple candidates from the same family has been observed across the political spectrum, transcending traditional party ideologies. In many of these cases, multiple people related to each other will contest the elections from neighbouring wards, turning local governance into a “family business.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated three relatives of state assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, all in the adjacent neighbourhood in the A ward. While his brother Makarand Narwekar will contest from ward no. 226, his sister-in-law Harshita Narwekar will contest from ward no. 225 whereas his cousin Dr. Gauravi Shivalkar will contest from ward no. 227.
Congress Nominates Multiple Members of MLA Aslam Shaikh’s Family
Similarly, the Congress has granted three tickets to the family of MLA Aslam Shaikh in Malad and Versova. His son Hyder will be running from ward no. 34, his sister Qamar Jahan Siddique from ward no. 33 and his son-in-law Saif Ahad Khan from ward no. 62. In Andheri, the Congress has also given tickets to former corporator Mohsin Haider's wife Meher and son Sufiyan. The mother-daughter duo will be contesting from ward no. 66 and 65 respectively.
The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has also given three seats to former minister Nawab Malik's kin. This includes his brother Kaptan Malik from ward no. 165, his sister Dr Saeeda Khan from ward no. 168 and niece Bushra Malik from ward no. 170, all adjacent to each other in Kurla and Vidyavihar. Notably, his daughter Sana Malik is a sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar.
Other notable instances include the Shinde-led Shiv Sena nominating MP Ravindra Waikar's daughter Deepti Waikar from ward no. 73 and Chandivali MLA Dilip Lande's wife Shaila Lande from ward no. 163, BJP fielding former MP Kirit Somaiya's son Neil Somaiya from ward no. 107 in Mulund while Congress gave ticket to former minister Aarif Naseem Khan's son Aamir Khan from ward no. 162 in Kurla.
Grassroots Workers Sidelined, Leading to Discontent and Independent Candidacies
This concentration of power within political households has sparked significant resentment among grassroots party workers and local party workers aspiring political debut. Many long-standing workers, who have spent years building local networks and managing ground-level grievances, expressed deep disappointment at being sidelined in favor of legacy candidates. This has also led to these disgruntled workers contesting as independents or remain inactive during the campaign, potentially harming their parties' prospects in what is expected to be a highly competitive multi-cornered fight.
However, active citizens condemned the dynasty politics being put to play in civic body elections as they feel that their choices are limited to a handful of influential families regardless of the party flag. Citizens have highlighted that Mumbai needs corporators who are given a chance based on merit and understand civic issues on the ground rather than prioritising bloodlines.
Experts Highlight Negative Impact on Women’s Representation and Local Democracy
Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, founder of Mumbai North Central District Forum, said that political parties are trying to keep the power within the families by prioritising kins or relatives of established politicians. “It is problematic that there is no real change in the spirit of these candidates. Many of them come from families where the older generation of leadership was a carrier of corruption. Political parties across the spectrum have failed to appoint meritorious candidates and therefore we will see the same old corrupt leadership in new faces,” he said.
Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of Chandivali Citizens’ Welfare Association, highlighted that women's reserved seats are being contested by men using their wives and female family members as proxies, while meritorious women workers are sidelined. “This mockery of reservations for women results in common people being marginalized when it comes to electing public representatives. A great deal of wealth is spent on elections. Electoral politics has become a sport for seasoned politicians where common people don't stand a chance,” he said.
Chetan Kamble of ChakaChak Dadar, said, “Dynasty politics becomes more damaging in civic body elections where corporators are meant to be the closest link between citizens and governance. When BMC tickets are distributed based on family connections rather than grassroots work, local democracy is reduced to entitlement politics. It sidelines committed workers, weakens accountability, and turns ward representation into a private inheritance.”
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