The 3,000-odd aspiring MNS corporators in the state faced examination hall jitters again as they appeared for the test that would determine whether they would get a ticket to contest civic elections in Mumbai,Thane,Pune,Nashik and Nagpur early next year. This is the first time that a political party in the state has conducted written tests for selecting candidates. The test has received a wide range of reviews from those who took it. The party had separate question papers for each corporation,with issues pertinent to that civic body. Harshal Desphande,secretary of MNS chief Raj Thackeray,said the question paper was made by party ideologues from the Maharashtra Navnirman Social Academy in Pune. In the 2007 elections,the party was still young,so we could not conduct the tests at that time. But this time,Raj saab is clear about getting able candidates for all 227 wards, he said. MNS MLA from Vikhroli,Mangesh Sangle said while a majority of those who took the exam were MNS party workers,the rest were those who have not been associated with the party till now. The 100-marks question paper for Mumbai candidates had 52 questions,of which 30 were BMC-related. Candidates also had to answer a variety of questions on the citys history and current affairs,such as: In which year was the name Bombay changed to Mumbai?,Whose birthday is celebrated as the Marathi Language Day?,What is the cut-off date for rehabilitating slum dwellers?,Who is considered the architect of modern Mumbai?and Who was the first chief minister of Maharashtra?. Interestingly,there were only two questions regarding the party when was the MNS established and a subjective question about the objectives of the party as understood by the candidate. Questions on the BMC included easy ones like How many corporators and administrative wards does the BMC have?,Which committee has the power to exercise control on the finance of the BMC administration? and Which tax does the BMC levy on citizens? to tricky ones such as Which section of the BMC Act enlists its non-discretionary duties?,What are the eligibility criteria for corporator elections? and What is the maximum amount that a ward committee can approve for any work?. Candidates shortlisted after the evaluation of the written paper will be interviewed by party chief Raj Thackeray. Shrinath Bhonsale,a party worker from Kanjurmarg,said he had difficulty matching the names of leading Marathi newspapers with senior journalists working with each of them. But I enjoyed solving the paper. Most of the questions on the BMC were from the booklet that we were asked to prepare from, he said. Suchita Mane,MNS ward chairperson from Vikhroli said she enjoyed answering question about the MNS objectives the most. I wrote in detail about the need to stop migration to the city and how Raj saab wants the state to develop the way Gujarat has, she said.
