Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: As many as 97 former corporators are in the fray for the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) elections 2025-26. Around 10 of them have fielded their relatives in the elections. In all, eight former corporators are contesting as independent candidates, while 87 are contesting on behalf of one or the other political party.
The 2025-26 elections are being conducted for the first time under the ward system, and, hence, all contestants are making strenuous efforts to match political equations in their wards. Winning the elections will not be easy for any candidate. Many former corporators from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have recently joined Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), but most of them have not secured party tickets. Several have withdrawn their candidatures ahead of the elections. It will therefore be interesting to see how many former corporators manage to succeed again.
The last CSMC general election was held in 2015, and elections were expected in 2020. However, they were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reservation issues and other reasons. The administration of the corporation remained under an administrator for around five and a half years.
As elections are being held after 10 years, candidates who lost in 2015 have re-entered the political battlefield with renewed effort. As many as 87 former corporators have submitted their nominations, while the remaining have fielded family members.
Most former corporators are contesting from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As many as 37 are contesting themselves, while three have fielded family members. Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) has fielded 19 former corporators, while two have fielded relatives. Similarly, 18 former corporators are contesting from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and three have fielded family members. The Indian National Congress has fielded seven former corporators, the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) six, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) three, and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen five former corporators.
On the other hand, eight former corporators are contesting as independents. It will be interesting to see how these independent candidates affect the political equations of established parties.
