BMC polls: 2,700 aspirants take part in Shiv Sena's interview process for candidate selection

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Thursday conducted interviews of persons wishing to contest the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on the party ticket, with a leader claiming that 2,700 aspirants took part in the process.

Sena's former Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale said thousands of aspirants were seeking party candidature for the January 15 civic body elections.

There are a total 227 wards in Mumbai.

"Shiv Sena will contest the municipal elections as part of the Mahayuti alliance. However, in order to ensure selection of suitable candidates, the party organised an interview programme today at Rangsharda (in Bandra)," he said.

Interviews were conducted constituency-wise as per the Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, Shewale said, adding that the party appointed three observers for this process.

While all political parties in the city conducted interviews of aspirants, none of them received the kind of overwhelming response that Shiv Sena got.

"More than 2,700 people were interviewed for 227 wards," he said.

Shewale claimed that office-bearers from parties such as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also appeared for interviews today.

"Eknath Shinde, during his two-and-a-half-year tenure as chief minister, has left a strong impact through the developmental work carried out across the state and in Mumbai. As a result, Shiv Sena is confident of victory. Due to Shinde's influence, Shiv Sena is witnessing an overwhelming response from aspirants," the former MP claimed. PTI PR NP