As big political parties continue to hold cards close to their chest, the first day of nomination saw zero turnout for the much-awaited elections to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Not a single nomination was received at any of the zones, said civic officials. The nomination process for the civic body polls got under way from Tuesday. The nomination process is expected to gain momentum only towards the end as political parties start issuing AB forms to the selected candidates. Last date for submission of nomination form is December 30 and hence the aspirants are still in wait and in watch mode. Most of them are waiting to jump the bandwagon in case they fail to clinch the nomination from either of the major parties who rule the roost in city political landscape. All the major political parties- Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit) and Shiv Sena, both groups, have wrapped up their internal exercise of interviewing the potential candidates.

 

As to BJP and Congress, the last decision on candidates needs approval from the parliamentary board and it requires some time to complete the formalities. The possible candidates meanwhile have been sounded out by the major parties asking them to keep the all the required documents, as to property, police cases, no dues certificate from NMC, ready so that same can be submitted during submission of nomination. It may be possible that BJP might showcase its strength and go for enmass submission of nomination of their chosen candidates. It remains to be seen if the filed gets dominated by independents as the campaign period is quite short, a major factor that may deter hopefuls from entering the fray, said the political observers.