BJP fields maximum candidates for tomorrow’s Bhiwandi, Malegaon & Panvel civic polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded maximum candidates in the elections for the Bhiwandi, Malegaon and Panvel municipal corporations scheduled for tomorrow, May 24.

According to a State Election Commission official, a total of 1,251 candidates are in fray in the three civic bodies.

The Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation is ruled by the Congress-led alliance, while the NCP-AIMIM alliance is in power in the Malegaon civic body.

This will be the first election of the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) after it came into existence in October last year.

There are altogether 12.96 lakh eligible voters for 252 seats in the polls to the three civic bodies, the official said, adding that the results will be declared on May 26.

The BJP has fielded 189 candidates, NCP-90, Congress-152 and Shiv Sena-144 across the three civic bodies. Also, 355 independents are trying their luck.

The AIMIM has fielded nine candidates in Bhiwandi and 37 in Malegaon, while the MNS has put up seven in Bhiwandi and 25 in Panvel.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has put up 22 candidates, Janata Dal (United) four, and Janata Dal (Secular) 10 in the three civic bodies.

Of the 18 municipal corporations in Maharashtra which completed their five-year term this year, the elections for 10 bodies were held in February, while Latur, Parbhani and Chandrapur went to polls last month.

The BJP emerged as one of the most dominating parties in the recently concluded polls, with an equally impressive improvement record.

Even though the party is not in power in any of the three civic bodies, its current form and the fact that it has fielded more candidates than anyone else could could spell trouble for rival parties.

With PTI inputs