BJP

Narendra Modi

Colaba

Kandivali

Goregaon

Ghatkopar

Uttar Pradesh

Congress

Despite Modi’s anti-nepotism plea, leaders are pushing kin’s candidature:insiders.Days aftermade an appeal against nepotism in the party, especially the culture of pushing relatives’ candidature, sons of at least five senior BJP leaders in Mumbai have reportedly sought tickets to contest the municipal polls.The would-be candidates are children of a parliamentarian, cabinet ministers and legislators. Their close aides denied they were lobbying for tickets, but BJP insiders claimed a frantic scramble had begun in the camp with many leaders keen to field their children in the BMC polls.The apparent pressure on the party leadership to award tickets to close relatives of prominent figures has angered senior functionaries who say dynasty politics is taking over the BJP, too.According to party insiders, MP Kirit Somaiya’s son, Neil, wants to contest from the party stronghold of Mulund. Neil, a secretary in the party’s city unit, is eyeing a ticket from one of the open wards, 103 and 108, which are also on the wish list of at least a dozen local BJP leaders.“Mulund is a BJP bastion so it will be a cakewalk for anyone who contests from here. If children of famous political families are so keen to work for the party, they should fight the election from a tougher seat,” said a local BJP functionary.He added: “If they take away seats like these, where will senior party workers contest from? A large number of seats are reserved for women so there is already a scramble for the remaining open seats. It won’t be fair if top leaders’ children are given a preference.”In, legislator Raj Purohit’s son, Aakash, has reportedly put forward his candidature. Aakash was a BJP nominee on the BEST committee and is known to be active in the area.Some would-be candidates from prominent political families have already started campaigning in target wards even though the party is yet to finalise the contestants’ names.In, former MLA Ramesh Thakur is lobbying for a ticket for his son, Sagar, according to the party insiders. The father and son were Congressmen who joined the BJP last year. Sagar is a sitting corporator.Deepak Thakur, son of minister of state for women and child development Vidya Thakur, is believed to have expressed the wish to contest from. He played a key role in her mother’s campaign during the 2014 assembly elections.Harsh Mehta, son of housing minister Prakash Mehta, wants to enter the fray in, another suburb where BJP enjoys considerable popularity. Harsh is associated with the party’s youth wing.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently issued the ‘no ticket for parivar’ appeal following reports of nepotism in the run-up to assembly elections inand other states. “Please don’t put pressure for securing tickets for your family members, whether a brother, a sister or children. Party will do justice to all. We have to work unitedly to win all the five states,” he said at the two-day BJP national executive meet on January 7.A senior party functionary in Mumbai said there would be no difference between the BJP and theif children of top leaders were allowed to corner important seats in the municipal elections. “Many leaders earlier fielded their wives in elections and now there is a long line of sons. This affects the morale of hardworking party workers,” the functionary said.Last week, the party had asked district presidents to suggest probable candidates’ names. City BJP chief Ashish Shelar refused to comment on the claims that prominent figures were promoting their sons. But another senior leader said there was significant pressure on the city unit to pick relatives.“But the leadership will not encourage nepotism as it puts off voters and creates divisions in the party ranks,” the leader said.