The BJP has begun screening candidates for the upcoming Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporation elections, placing electoral winnability above party affiliation as it prepares for polls likely to be held in late November or December. The selection exercise is focused particularly on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), where the number of wards is expected to rise from 144 to 209 after delimitation.
The party has installed drop boxes to collect applications from people seeking tickets before beginning the final selection process. Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar, who is in charge of the BJP’s KMC election campaign, said the party was assessing the applications and proposals submitted by aspiring candidates.
“For elections, the most important thing is winnability. We are now screening the applications and proposals submitted by aspiring candidates,” Majumdar told The Telegraph. He said the candidates would be selected next month.
BJP sources said the party would examine the profile, background and popularity of applicants rather than give priority to their organisational links. Majumdar said party connections might be important when appointments to organisational posts were being considered, but that electoral contests required a different approach.
The candidate search comes as the BJP seeks to expand its presence in the civic bodies of Bengal. A senior BJP leader described the KMC as “Chhoto Lalbari”, contrasting it with Writers’ Buildings, the former state secretariat, which was known as “Boro Lalbari”. The leader said securing control of the civic corporation would be important for any party that had already captured the state government.
The KMC’s ward structure is expected to change substantially after delimitation, with the total number rising from 144 to 209. The change will affect the number of constituencies, the organisation of the contest and the field of potential candidates, although the supplied report does not specify when the revised ward boundaries will be formally implemented.
Bengal BJP minder Sunil Bansal is expected to meet senior leaders and members of the committee overseeing the KMC polls to discuss the candidate list. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier urged voters in Calcutta to support the BJP in all wards.
The selection process is also taking place amid reports that around 20 Trinamool Congress councillors had contacted the BJP seeking tickets. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya dismissed that possibility, according to the report. The NCPI, whose members included 20 Trinamool Congress MPs who joined the party after the BJP came to power in Bengal, had expressed interest in contesting the KMC polls as a BJP ally. The BJP has ruled out that arrangement.
On Thursday, Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh claimed that some Trinamool councillors would meet members of the rebel Ritabrata Banerjee faction to explore contesting the civic elections as NCPI candidates with BJP support. The claims and counterclaims have emerged before the formal candidate list is finalised, with the BJP indicating that its selections are expected next month.
