Without formally announcing the Mahayuti seat-sharing arrangement, the BJP by Monday evening cleared around 80–90 candidates for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation elections and issued ‘A’ and ‘B’ forms. Selected candidates were informed directly through phone calls from Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s office, triggering a rush of party leaders at the office premises. Those finalised collected their forms, while nominations are set to be filed on Tuesday.
Around 35 seats remained under deliberation till late night, with more candidates likely to receive calls on Tuesday morning. Party sources indicate that nearly 60% of sitting corporators have been denied tickets. Instead of releasing an official list, the BJP adopted a closed-door strategy of directly issuing forms to prevent rebellion, pressure tactics, and last-minute independent nominations.
Several former mayors, deputy mayors and senior corporators have been sidelined. Former mayors Dayashankar Tiwari and Nanda Jichkar, former standing committee chair Avinash Thakre, former deputy mayor Dipraj Parardikar, Varsha Thakre, Sanjay Bangale, Chetana Tank and others have not been given tickets from their earlier wards. Some, including Tiwari and Avinash Thakre, were not keen to contest this time.
The party has fielded new faces in several wards to counter anti-incumbency, while retaining experienced corporators where organisational strength is considered crucial. The reshuffle has caused mild discontent among workers.
In the 2017 civic polls, despite denying tickets to 26 sitting corporators, the BJP had secured a landslide victory, winning 108 of 151 seats.
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