Ahead of BMC polls, BJP asks review reports from party members

Mulund MLA Mihir Kotecha and former MP Manoj Kotak will review the North East district, while MLAs Parag Alavani and Sanjay Upadhyay have been given charge of the North Central district. The South Central district will be reviewed by MLA Prasad Lad and former MLA Sunil Rane.

MUMBAI: With Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections due soon, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar has announced the names of the district-level office bearers and asked them to conduct comprehensive ward-wise review and submit detailed reports by July 7. The responsibility for reviewing the North Mumbai district has been assigned to MLAs Atul Bhatkhalkar and Yogesh Sagar while the North West district will be reviewed by MLAs Ameet Satam and Vidya Thakur.

Mumbai, India - October 4, 2019: Ashish Shelar and Milind Narvekar during the Mumbai Cricket election at Wankhade Stadium, Churchgate in Mumbai, India, on Friday, October 4, 2019. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Mulund MLA Mihir Kotecha and former MP Manoj Kotak will review the North East district, while MLAs Parag Alavani and Sanjay Upadhyay have been given charge of the North Central district. The South Central district will be reviewed by MLA Prasad Lad and former MLA Sunil Rane.

The South Mumbai district will be reviewed by state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Legislative Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar.

The BJP wants to take over BMC, which had been under the control of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) from 1996 till 2022. In the 2017 civic elections, the BJP got 82 seats and the Sena got 84. But, Uddhav Thackeray got the support of six corporators from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), while some corporators from BJP and Congress were disqualified as their caste certificates were not valid.

Shelar also announced the inclusion of 27 key members, comprising current and former MLAs, former corporators, presidents of BJP Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha from Mumbai - to spearhead the party’s election strategy.