BMC polls: Shiv Sena(UBT) announces 40 star campaigners

Mumbai, Jan 5 (IANS)Ahead of the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Monday released its list of 40 star campaigners. The list features prominent party faces, including party chief Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, and senior leaders such as Sanjay Raut and Sushma Andhare.

Voting for 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra is scheduled for January 15, with the results to be declared on January 16.

The Thackeray faction has mobilised its most influential voices to secure the local bodies. Key names in the 40-member list include Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, and Subhash Desai, while parliamentary faces comprise sitting MPs Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant, Priyanka Chaturvedi, and former MP Vinayak Raut.

The regional heavyweights consist of Bhaskar Jadhav, Ambadas Danve, and Anil Parab, while Varun Sardesai and Aadesh Bandekar represent the youth and cultural wings. The other notable names include party legislators Sunil Prabhu, Sachin Ahir, Nitin Deshmukh, and party spokesman Anand Dubey.

Further, Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder chief Raj Thackeray are set to hold their first-ever joint rally on Monday in Vikhroli. This marks a major shift in Mumbai’s political landscape as the two leaders join forces for the upcoming civic polls.

The event in the eastern suburbs is the first of seven to eight planned joint rallies across the state. The leaders are expected to visit Shiv Sena(UBT) and MNS local offices (shakhas) together to boost worker morale.

Uddhav Thackeray has already started visiting party shakhas for the last two days, urging the party activists to work unitedly to checkmate the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.

Following in their fathers' footsteps, Amit Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray are also scheduled to address two joint rallies in Mumbai.

Earlier, the Shiv Sena(UBT) and MNS on Sunday released the joint manifesto titled 'Vachan Nama' for the BMC polls with a slew of promises, including Swabhiman Nidhi comprising a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 for domestic workers and Koli women (fishing women), one lakh affordable homes in five years, creation of a dedicated BMC Housing Authority, 100 units of free electricity for residential users from Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), breakfast and lunch at Rs 10 and minimum bus fare reduced to Rs 5, employment allowance and interest free loan to gig workers and five medical colleges.

The manifesto explicitly pitches for a "Marathi Mayor" and emphasises that Mumbai’s land will be reserved primarily for "Mumbaikars".