MUMBAI: A total of 9,199 candidates are in the fray for 1,268 seats in the Maharashtra municipal elections, the first phase of which will take place on February 16.
Elections are taking place to ten municipal corporations in the state, among which Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai’s municipal lawmaking authority with 227 seats, has the highest number of candidates, 2,271.
As per data released by the State Election Commission of Maharashtra (SECM), 1,190 of the BMC candidates are male and 1,084 female with one from the third gender.
Amongst the political parties, the Shiv Sena is contesting all the 227 seats in the BMC.
Elections to the state’s Zilla Parishads also start on February 16, with 15 of the 25 districts voting in the first phase.
There are 4,278 candidates in the fray for the 855 seats in the 15 Zilla Parishads voting in the first phase.
Among them, Beed district with 60 seats has the maximum number of candidates, 440. Beed is where estranged cousins—the BJP government’s minister for rural development Pankaja Munde is locked in a battle with the NCP’s Dhananjay Munde.