NASHIK: First timers, young and educated party workers, especially women, have made a beeline for the Shiv Sena ticket for the upcoming civic polls.The Shiv Sena, which snapped ties with its long-time ally BJP in Nashik, has received over 810 applications for the 122 seats in the Nashik Municipal Corporation. More than 50% of applicants are women.The party started interviewing the candidates on Monday, when the Sena leadership quizzed about 500 applicants for prabhag 1-20. The candidates were questioned about the number of years they served in the party, their participation in the agitations, the organisations they are associated with.Vaishnavi Mate, a Masters in Commerce, appeared for the interview on Monday. Though she is preparing for Maharashtra Public Service Commission exams, she said she would give it up if she was elected.Pratiksha Nagre, 32, who is an Arts graduate, said she had been working for party or some years and now want to serve the city. She is keen on contesting the election from prabhag number 10, where the population is largely from the worker class and has a small pocket of farmers.“I applied for candidature in Shiv Sena because I want to work for the development of the city. This is the only party that can bring about change. The previous elected representatives did not do anything for the city,” she said.Another Arts graduate, Sonal Rasal, 42, said the parties should give chance to educated candidates. “An educated candidate can take decisions on own. We have seen women working as proxy corporators. If we call them up, the phone is answered or handed over to their male relatives,” she said, who was working for the Shiv Sena since the past 24 years.Sena sampark pramukh of Nashik Ajay Chaudhary, who is among those conducting the interviews, said the speciality this time was that most applicants are well-educated, particularly the women. “Many are lecturers, doctors, lawyers, graduates, post-graduates. One lady is preparing for her MPSC exams but said she would give it up if elected. It is nice to know that Nashik is looking at Shiv Sena with a different perspective,” he said.Sena city chief Ajay Boraste added they have more number of women candidates this time. “Nearly 450 of the 810 applicants are women. They have applied for the seats reserved for women as well as from general category,” he said.