BJP bets big on female candidates in BMC polls: Party fields more women than men; 76 candidates make up 55% of its line-up

MUMBAI: A closer look at the BJP's list of 137 candidates for the upcoming BMC elections shows a tilt towards women.

Of the total nominees, 76 are women and 61 are men- among the party's highest-ever representation of women in a civic contest in Mumbai. While 50% of BMC seats are reserved for women, the BJP has gone a step further by fielding female candidates even in open wards. These are traditionally high-stakes seats, often fiercely contested by male party workers, including those who do not fall under any reservation categories such as OBC or ST, which also have designated quotas in the civic polls.




Take, for instance, Ward number 57, Goregaon, which is an open seat. Here, the party has once again fielded the former corporator from the ward, Srikala Pillai. Pillai's father, Ramchandran Pillai, was a 5-term BMC corporator from the Congress party. However, following his demise in 2010, Srikala contested the 2017 municipal elections on a BJP ticket, won, and was nominated again by the party.

She said, "I worked for this ward for the past 15 years, and while there was an interview, I was hopeful that the party would renominate me, looking at the work I did." Party leaders said the decision to field women candidates even from open-category wards was based on local sentiment and winnability. "If a woman candidate is best placed to win, the category of the seat does not matter," said a senior BJP functionary.

Other instances where women candidates were put up include Ward 55, where Marathi film actor Nisha Parulekar was fielded from an open ward in Kandivli. Again, from Ward 98, which includes Khar, former deputy mayor and BJP corporator Alka Kerkar was nominated from an open seat, while from Ward 225, yet again an open seat, Harshita Narwekar of BJP was nominated. Ward 225 includes Fort and Colaba areas.

Harshita told TOI municipal elections are all about a connect at a personal level with the voter. "Male or female, the candidate doesn't matter if you are able to connect with your core voter base and win the seat; the BJP as a party is more than supportive. I am happy that my past work was acknowledged and I was renominated. While there is a friendly fight here, I am sure that I would win the seat," said Harshita, who contested the 2017 elections from Ward 226 and won. This time the party shifted her to Ward 225, while ward 226 has her brother-in-law, Makrand Narwekar. In Ward 225, there is a friendly fight between Sena's Sujata Sanap and Narwekar.