BJP will not contest in Mumbai's upcoming BMC elections, says party leader Ashish Shelar; NCP, Congress likely to field candidates

New Delhi: BJP will not contest the upcoming mayoral elections in Mumbai as they are in minority, whereas the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress are likely to field their candidates. “BJP will not contest the Mumbai Mayor’s elections as it is in minority in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and does not have the numbers. BJP does not want to have an alliance with any opposition party. In 2022, the party will have the numbers on its own,” said BJP leader Ashish Shelar. [caption id=“attachment_4152283” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation building. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] NCP Mumbai President Nawab Malik, on the other hand, said that the party will contest the Deputy Mayor’s post and is most likely to support Shiv Sena for the Mayor’s post. Meanwhile, Congress Mumbai president Eknath Gaikwad said that the party is prepared to field its candidate against Shiv Sena and is waiting for a nod from the high-command in Delhi. “We are in opposition in the BMC. We have sorted out 3-4 candidates, out of which one will file the nomination for the Mayor’s post. We have enough time as the deadline for nomination is 6 pm today,” Gaikwad added . There are 27 municipal bodies, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Aurangabad, where Mayoral elections are due on November 22. BMC has a total of 227 numbers of seats. While the Shiv Sena has 94 corporators, BJP, Congress and NCP have 83, 29 and eight, respectively.