Yamini Jadhav & Vithal Lokare

MUMBAI: The 2019 poll season is turning out to be fruitful for the city's civic corporators with several getting tickets to turn MLAs.

The first list of Shiv Sena candidates announced on Tuesday included Vithal Lokare, who shifted from Congress, from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar and former corporator Yamini Jadhav from Byculla. One of Jadhav's rivals in Byculla will be Akhil Bharatiya Sena corporator Geeta Gawli, daughter of gangster-turned-politician Ar-un Gawli, who also filed her nomination on Tuesday. MNS's lone corporator Sanjay Turde has got a ticket from Kalina.

Ambitious corporators vying for assembly election tickets also did fairly well at the hustings in 2014. First-time BJP corporator Ameet Satam had contested and won from Andheri (West) constituency, while former mayor from Shiv Sena Sunil Prabhu won from Dindoshi.

Both Satam and Prabhu have been re-nominated this time. Satam said his experience as a corporator gave him an in-depth understanding of the area. "As an MLA, over 50% of citizen problems brought before us pertain to the BMC and we are better equipped to find solutions. The corporation at times can be very complex, and having worked in it gives an upper hand," he added.

Most of the corporators in the fray plan to file nominations on October 3. Other corporator-hopefuls include Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, who is eyeing a ticket from Bandra (East), Congress's Asif Zakeria from Bandra (West) and Sena's Dilip Lande from Chandivli.

Jadhav, wife of BMC standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav, will be pitted against sitting Byculla MLA Waris Pathan of AIMIM. Byculla is turning into a hot seat with Geeta Gawli also in the fray and Samajwadi corporator Rais Shaikh set to throw in his hat.

Gawli, who had lost in 2014, said her father had been an MLA from the area and she was aware of what was expected. "I have also been the civic ward committee chairman and worked with the administration," she added.

