BMC campaign ends,no party sure of win

Political parties said that they were forced to make an extra effort as 50 per cent reservation of seats for women introduced this time has meant many candidates are contesting for the first time and those recontesting are not contesting from their previous wards,pushing them to walk that extra mile to convince their new voters to elect them to India’s richest civic body.

Mumbai’s choked roads were further burdened on Tuesday as groups of party workers got on to mini convoys of autorickshaws with party flags and shouted into megaphones,while leaders such as MNS president Raj Thackeray conducted roadshows with large motorcades of excited supporters.

A sweeping sentiment across parties and candidates was that of uncertainty and anxiety. Even strong Shiv Sena candidates put in an effort to shake off the effects of the first-time Congress-NCP alliance and a rising MNS.

At the chowk outside Lower Parel station,Sena candidate from ward 194,Snehal Ambekar,was going door to door when Raj Thackeray’s rally passed through her Parel BDD chawl constituency. The Sena workers used their flagposts to clash with MNS workers,till police intervened.

The saffron combine may have swept to easy victories in their bastions over the last 15 years but candidate from ward 159 in Kurla,Nitesh Singh,son of Congress MLA Rajhans Singh,thinks the Congress-NCP alliance is set to turn the game this time. However,he is worried about the SP eating into his votes with current corporator Shazia Azmi’s brother Ashraf Azmi pitted against him.