With the announcement of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections, political focus has now shifted sharply to the battle for party nominations. While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other senior leaders have indicated that the Mahayuti may contest major municipal corporations together, the ground situation in Nagpur tells a different story. A strong section of BJP workers is demanding that the party contest the elections independently, citing organisational strength and long-term booth-level groundwork.
In the 2017 elections, the BJP won a massive 108 seats, while the Shiv Sena was reduced to just two seats and the NCP to one seat. Since then, Maharashtra’s political landscape has changed dramatically, with splits in both the Shiv Sena and the NCP weakening their presence in Nagpur. BJP workers argue that over the last five years, the party has consistently implemented welfare schemes and maintained direct voter contact at the booth level, strengthening the case for a solo contest. However, with the final decision resting with the Chief Minister and the state BJP president, local leaders have chosen to remain cautious and publicly non-committal.
The scale of internal competition within the BJP has become evident from the overwhelming response to ticket applications. Between December 10 and 12, more than 3,500 application forms were sold, even as the winter session of the legislature was underway. Of these, over 1,300 completed applications have already been submitted, with an average of 15 aspirants per seat.
The party has also conducted ward-wise interviews, involving former corporators, senior office-bearers and several young, first-time aspirants who became active during and after the Covid period. This has raised expectations that new faces could be fielded in several wards, making the candidate selection process both crucial and challenging for the BJP.
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