Mumbai, Jan 1 (PTI) Scrutiny of nomination papers for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections has led to the rejection of several candidates across parties due to incomplete documents, errors
in forms and failure to submit mandatory certificates, election officials have said.
A total of 2,516 nomination papers were filed till December 30, the final day. As the forms were examined on Wednesday, those of candidates from the Congress, BJP, AAP, NCP (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and several independents were rejected.
As most parties finalised seat-sharing arrangements and issued ‘A’ and ‘B’ forms (key documents to file nominations) only in the last two to three days to prevent rebellion, a rush of nominations was witnessed on December 29 and 30.
Officials said delays in finalising candidatures, last-minute documentation, non-submission of caste validity certificates and incomplete details were among the reasons behind the rejections.
Officials said candidates whose nominations were rejected would not be able to contest the elections. They added that the final electoral picture would become clearer after the completion of all statutory procedures related to the scrutiny process.
According to official data, the highest number of rejected nominations belonged to independent candidates, though major parties were also affected.
In the case of NCP (SP), the nomination filed by its candidate Bharat Danani from ward 109 was rejected during scrutiny.
One BSP candidate’s nomination was rejected in F-South ward (wards 200 to 206) as the proposer appeared twice on the form.
The nomination of Congress candidate Manoj Kanojiya from ward 226 could not be accepted as his caste certificate was not submitted, said officials. AAP candidate Navnath Lalge, who had filed his nomination from ward 226, also suffered a setback on the same ground.
Both BJP candidates from wards 211 and 212 saw their nominations rejected due to incomplete documents and other deficiencies, said officials.
In ward 109, six nominations that were rejected belonged to independents. All 12 nominations rejected in G-South wards (193 to 199) were independents, while several others were rejected in T division (wards 103 to 108), L ward (wards 163, 171 and 175) and other areas.
In ward 226, five nominations were filed. While the Congress and AAP candidates were disqualified for not submitting caste certificates, the nominations of BJP candidate Makarand Narvekar and two independents were found valid.
There are 227 electoral wards in BMC. The metropolis has 1,03,44,315 voters, including 55,16,707 male and 48,26,509 female voters. The number of “Other” voters is 1,099, according to officials.
In the last civic polls in 2017, the undivided Shiv Sena had won 84 seats. Of these winners, 46 have now switched to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. As many as 16 former corporators from other parties, including the Congress, NCP and SP, have also joined the Shiv Sena.
The BJP had won 82 seats last time. In the past eight years, six former corporators from other parties have joined it.
In 2017, the Congress had bagged 31 seats, followed by NCP (9), MNS (7), SP (6), AIMIM (2) and six others.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations, including the BMC, will be held on January 15, and votes will be counted the next day. The nomination process began on December 23 and ended on December 30, while January 2 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations. The final list of candidates will be published on January 3. PTI ND NR
