Car chases, crematorium drama mark ticket turmoil as civic poll nominations end in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Dec 30 (PTI) Maharashtra witnessed a wave of unrest across political parties, marked by dramatic scenes in Nashik, Nagpur and growing dissent in Mumbai, Jalgaon and other cities over ticket distribution for civic polls as nominations for the January 15 elections ended on Tuesday.

Voters across 29 municipal corporations, including those of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Thane, will elect their corporators in the long-delayed polls to the biggest cities of Maharashtra.

Nashik in north Maharashtra emerged as a flashpoint on the final day of filing nominations for civic polls as disgruntled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aspirants allegedly chased vehicles carrying AB forms (given to official candidates of a party) on city roads.

The car of city BJP president Sunil Kedar was pursued by ticket seekers, creating tense scenes on the Nashik-Mumbai highway for some time. The convoy included cars of BJP MLAs Rahul Dhikle and Seema Hiray, party sources said.

The turmoil deepened in Nashik's ward number 26, where a heated argument broke out between BJP office-bearer Kailas Ahire and MLA Seema Hiray over the issuance of AB forms.

Ahire accused the MLA of attempting to cut his ticket. The altercation, which took place outside the election decision officer's office, was captured on video and later went viral.

Aspirants from areas such as Panchavati and New CIDCO also staged protests, alleging loyal workers were being sidelined in favour of newcomers. The BJP's decision to field Riddhish Nimse, son of former corporator Uddhav Nimse, who is currently in jail in a murder case, added to the controversy in Nashik.

Senior BJP leader and district guardian minister Girish Mahajan said, "What happened was not appropriate. We have made commitments to workers who joined the BJP recently and we had to keep our word. Compared to the actual number of available seats, the number of aspirants was way more than that." In Nagpur, an emotionally charged episode unfolded involving Shiv Sena worker Yogesh Gonnade.

On the last day of filing nominations, Gonnade's mother passed away, prompting him to give up hopes of contesting the election. However, Shiv Sena leaders reached the crematorium and handed him the AB form while the last rites were underway.

After performing the funeral rituals, Gonnade rushed to the Sataranjipura zonal office and filed his nomination from ward No. 5 of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation just minutes before the deadline.

Nagpur also saw BJP workers protesting outside the residence of Union minister Nitin Gadkari after being denied tickets. Some workers broke down, while others allegedly threatened self-immolation, claiming party tickets were given to candidates who had joined the BJP barely a year and a half ago, bypassing long-serving workers.

In Mumbai, unrest was reported across parties. Aspirants from the Shiv Sena (UBT) protested outside 'Matoshree', the residence of party president Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra, after being denied candidature, with sloganeering reported from areas such as Mankhurd and Dharavi.

In the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, party workers in Dahisar waved black flags against MLA Prakash Surve after ward No. 3 was allotted to the BJP as part of a pre-poll alliance between the two saffron outfits.

Local Shiv Sena shakha (branch) chief Prakash Pujari and supporters alleged local workers were kept in the dark while the seat was handed to BJP MLC Pravin Darekar's brother, Prakash. Ticket aspirant Vaishnavi Pujari accused senior leaders of imposing an "external" candidate.

In Chembur's ward No. 155, BJP aspirants Jayshree Kharat, Harsh Salve and Shashikala Kamble filed nominations as independents after the party reportedly gave a ticket to former corporator Shrikant Shetye, who joined the BJP from the Shiv Sena (UBT) just two days earlier.

In Jalgaon, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faced internal strife after city president Abhishek Patil resigned abruptly, citing differences with district president Sanjay Pawar and former minister Gulabrao Deokar over seat allocation.

Senior NCP leaders, including Sanjay Pawar, Deokar and former MLA Manish Jain, later held talks to persuade Patil to withdraw his resignation. Patil's mother, Kalpanabai Patil, a women's office-bearer of the party, was also involved in the reconciliation efforts.

To protest denial of candidature, some ticket aspirants locked the gate of a Congress office in Nashik.

These activists shouted slogans against some party office-bearers. The agitators alleged MP Shobha Bachhav, state office-bearer Sharad Aher and Congress city unit president Akash Chhajed gave candidature to rich "outsiders", resulting in injustice to activists who are loyal to the party since last 25-30 years.

They said the Congress, which is a national party, got only 16 seats to contest in Nashik as part of an alliance.

Congress Scheduled Caste Cell president Dnyaneshwar Kale, state general secretary Suresh Maru, Minority Cell Nashik city president Bashir, social media chief Anna More and others participated in the protest.

In Thane, high drama and internal rebellion marked the final day of nominations for the municipal corporation elections.

As seat-sharing finalizations within the Mahayuti alliance (BJP and Shiv Sena) left many aspirants disappointed, prominent families and youth leaders found themselves sidelined.

Party sources said Shiv Sena leadership has reportedly denied tickets to sons of two heavyweight leaders -- Thane MP Naresh Mhaske and Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik.

The tension escalated as several youth leaders revolted. Shiv Sena members Swapnil Landge and Nikhil Budjade distanced themselves from the party. Landge abruptly resigned from the Yuva Sena and filed his nomination independently along with Budjade.

Thane MLA and BJP election chief Sanjay Kelkar said, "We are not entirely satisfied (with alliance) as we did not get seats even in wards where we have full voter support." The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has fielded 28 Marathi candidates in Thane. The MNS has allied with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) to challenge Mahayuti in Thane. PTI ND COR RSY