97 former corporators in the fray for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation elections

Maharashtra: 97 former corporators are contesting the 2025-26 Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) elections. Ten of them have fielded their relatives. In total, eight former corporators are contesting as independent candidates, while 87 are representing a political party.

The 2025-26 elections are being held under the ward system for the first time, and therefore, all candidates are trying their best to match the political equations in their wards. Winning the elections will not be easy for any candidate. Several former Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) corporators have recently joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), but most of them did not receive party tickets. Many withdrew their candidacies before the elections. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how many former corporators are successful again.

The last CSMC general elections were 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 corporation’s administration was under an administrator for approximately five and a half years.