Reservation of 114 out of 227 wards for women seems to have led to his decision.
Pravin Chheda, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has quit the party to join the Congress, thus heralding the election season. Chheda, who represents ward No 121, which is in Ghatkopar (East), quit on Wednesday and joined the Congress on Friday.
Reservation of 114 out of 227 wards for women seems to have led to his decision. Chheda’s ward has been reserved for women, and sources said he insisted that he be allowed to contest elections from a general ward.
BJP state president Sudhir Mungantiwar said the party was unable to meet Chheda’s demand. “We offered to let his wife stand from his seat, but he insisted on contesting,” Mungantiwar said.
According to sources, Chheda was eyeing the adjoining ward No 127, currently represented by Bhalchandra Shirsat. “There is no way the BJP can replace a sitting corporator who has done good work. Even if it does, there are other BJP workers who have served the party loyally and who deserve a chance before an outsider (to the ward) is brought in,” the source said.
Chheda insisted that his quitting the BJP and joining Congress had nothing to do with elections. “I was feeling suffocated in the BJP,” he said, speaking about the party where he has spent 27 years. “I have not made any demand to the Congress about giving me a ticket for the elections.”
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Kripashankar Singh said the question of giving him a ticket did not arise at this juncture. "He applied to join the Congress and we accepted the application," he said, adding, "When the time comes to give out our nominations, we will consider his case."
The BJP did attempt to mollify Chheda, but to little avail. Sources also said that Chheda had differences with BJP MLA from Ghatkopar, Prakash Mehta, and this might have finally pushed him into quitting.
Ghatkopar (East) is dominated by Gujaratis, a majority of whom are viewed as supporters of the BJP. But Chheda said that wasn't a concern. "I agree that Gujaratis tend to back the BJP but they also vote for people who have done work. If I do stand for elections, I am sure people will see my work and decide accordingly," he said.
Incidentally, the BMC's ruling Sena-BJP combine has to give up 20 and nine seats respectively for their newest ally, the Republican Party of India (Athavale). The fact that many sitting corporators will thus not be re-nominated is likely to cause heartburn and defections in the days to come.
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