Parties hold up candidate lists to thwart poaching

In a bid to kill the possibility of dissident ticket hopefuls joining a rival party and contesting civic elections against the parent outfit, the MNS, the BJP and the Congress have declared their candidate lists only partially.u00a0

When all major political parties are trying to thwart poaching of dissidents by embarking on the delaying tactics, parties like the NCP, which is yet to announce its list, are waiting to "poach the betrayed candidates" from the rival parties.u00a0

So far the BJP has announced names of 46 candidates, while the MNS and the Congress have declared names of 138 and 38, respectively.u00a0"In the previous civic elections, the NCP declared their candidates at the eleventh hour only to poach dissident leaders from other political parties. Then they were granted NCP tickets and most of these turncoats emerged victorious," said political expert Nitin Birmal.u00a0

NCP city chief Ankush Kakade said, "We do not fear a rebellion from our party rank and file. We are actually waiting to poach candidates from other political parties."u00a0According to the political expert, a new trend has emerged in the political circles in which some leaders make special friends in rival parties also and convince them to field a weaker candidate to increase the winning possibility of their own contestant. "To avoid this nexus, political parties often delay announcement of candidature," said Birmal.u00a0

Political analyst Prakash Pawar said, "Most political parties have already decided on deserving candidates, but they are delaying the process of announcement till the last date so that the aspiring candidates could not approach other parties. The parties employ the delaying tactics only to kill the possibility of a dissident ticket hopeful joining a rival party and running for polls against their candidate."