BMC polls 2017: BJP won’t contest for mayor and other posts

Making the announcements, CM Devendra Fadnavis pushed the party’s transparency plank, saying BJP’s 82 corporators would be “watchdogs of transparency” in the civic administration; a strategy that will in most likelihood curtail Shiv Sena’s free rein in the BMC.

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To begin with, a three-member committee of senior retired bureaucrats Ramnath Jha, Gautam Chatterjee (OSD in CMO) and Sharad Kale will be set up. This committee will submit its report in three months evolving broader guidelines on reforms “to bring greater transparency and accountability in the working of the BMC”. An upalokayukta will be appointed to closely monitor the functioning of the BMC.

Fadnavis said, “We have decided not to contest for mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee chairman, improvement committee chairman or BEST committee posts. We have decided to bring reforms through transparency, which was our promise.”

However, he asserted that the BJP would give full support to the Shiv Sena on public welfare policies, indicating the BJP was not going to stake claim to opposition leader’s role.

The BMC with 227 seats saw Shiv Sena winning 84 and BJP 82 seats. Fadnavis said, “To win the mayor polls, we would have had to seek the support of smaller parties and Independents. We believed it would lead to make or break politics. Therefore, we decided to respect the Mumbaikars’ mandate.”

Since the BJP won 82 seats, by virtue of its strength, at least ten members will automatically get into the standing committee along with an equal number of Shiv Sena corporators.