89 Navi Mumbai seats,133 withdrawals,470 left in fray

“The number of candidates withdrawing nominations has never been this high,” said deputy municipal commissioner (election) D.S. Chabukswar.

He added 3,900 persons will be involved in the poll process. Civic officials from cities like Kalyan-Dombivali,Thane,Mira-Bhayander and Ulhasnagar will be roped in.

The NCP,strong in Navi Mumbai and contesting without an alliance with the Congress,has candidates in 88 seats,with the 89th disqualified. The Congress is contesting 83 seats and the MNS 59,while the Shiv Sena and the BJP,in their first ever alliance for the Navi Mumbai civic elections,are contesting 74 and 14 respectively.

Ward No 72 in Nerul will see a tough fight between present Congress corporator Santosh Shetty and deputy mayor Shashikant Birajdar,of the NCP.

Former NCP corporator from Airoli M K Madhavi,one of the accused in a land encroachment case,will contest independently.

Congress strongman Namdev Bhagat,who had rebelled during the Assembly elections,is contesting on a party ticket from Nerul ward no 75,confident of victory. “Congress is sure of winning more than 25 seats,” said Bhagat.

Out of the 89 wards,30 are reserved for women and 31 for SC,ST and OBC candidates. The candidates will get their election symbols and start campaigning from April 1. They have been given a spending limit of Rs 1 lakh each.

Around 6.29 lakhs voters have been registered that will be held across 639 polling centres.