BMC polls: From BJP to Congress, ‘family first’ politics surfaces as leaders push tickets for kin | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: With parties racing against time to finalise candidates for the BMC polls, the principle of ‘family first’ appears to be guiding ex-corporators and MLAs. They are making a strong push to secure tickets for their wives on seats reserved for women or for their children and relatives, leaving long-waiting party workers sidelined.On Sunday, nepotism emerged as a flashpoint at BJP’s coordination committee meeting for BMC elections when a senior politician insisted the party should not allocate tickets to relatives of its leaders. BJP national joint general secretary Shivprakash reportedly stated at the meeting that no BJP neta should ask for a ticket for kin.
BJP Mumbai unit president Ameet Satam however said Shivprakash merely reiterated the party’s longstanding stance that it is winnability of a candidate, ground report and local sentiment that are important factors in selecting a nominee.The demand for tickets from BJP MLAs for their wives (at least three MLAs from North Mumbai have made this demand), for his daughter from a MLA from South Mumbai, for the son from a North Mumbai MLA and the daughter-in-law from an MLA in central Mumbai has caused unease in the party. Shivprakash’s statement was in response to the issue raised by workers.Last week, BJP’s Borivli MLA Sanjay Upadhyay and Mumbai BJP secretary Vivekanand Gupta each wrote to party leaders urging them not to field spouses of leaders or office-bearers but give a chance to active workers. Upadhyay addressed his letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis, stressing women’s reservation was likely to be implemented in the 2029 assembly elections and “responsible public representatives and party office bearers [seeking] tickets for their inactive family members... would send the wrong message to society.” He called for long-serving female workers to be given the opportunity to contest. Another office-bearer, Vivekanand Gupta, wrote to Satam under the heading ‘Regarding not allotting tickets to wives, daughters, sons or relatives of party office-bearers in the BMC elections,’ stating, “It is often seen that when such a worker finally gets a chance to contest an election in his department, that opportunity is taken away due to pressure from some leader or office-bearer. This leads to deep disappointment and frustration, which is extremely wrong and unfortunate.” Last weekend, Congress’s interviews for aspirants saw a similar trend, with former corporators eyeing seats for spouses and relatives. It is often observed that ex-corporators opt for tickets for their wives when their own seats are reserved for women, enabling them to manage the constituency on their behalf. Insiders said many politicians across parties are trying to arrange tickets for female family members in anticipation of the 33% reservation for women in the assembly elections in 2029.
