Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
With only eight hours remaining to file nominations for the city’s municipal corporation elections, heavy crowds are expected at filing centres once the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) announce their official candidates.
Nomination filing will be open for four hours each day, from 11 am to 3 pm, on Monday and Tuesday. Authorities anticipate congestion at all centres, particularly after major alliances finalise their candidates.
Meanwhile, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP–Ajit Pawar) have already declared candidates in select wards. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Shinde), Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) are yet to reveal their strategies.
So far, 4,720 nomination forms have been sold, but only 17 nominations have been officially submitted. Elections will be held for 115 wards across 29 divisions under reservation categories A, B, C and D, with each division comprising four wards. The final scenario is expected to emerge after the completion of nomination sales and submissions over the next two days.
Officials expressed concern over crowd management at the eight designated nomination filing centres across the city.
Lawyers’ offices packed
Several lawyers’ offices witnessed a heavy rush on Sunday as aspiring candidates prepared their nomination papers. Aspirants waited for hours to complete documentation, including no-objection certificates, movable and immovable property details, Aadhaar and PAN cards, income tax returns, character certificates and other mandatory documents.