Revanth Reddy, Azharuddin Named Congress BMC Star Campaigners

Mumbai: Former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, actor Raj Babbar, and political leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mewani are among the Congress party’s 40 ‘star campaigners’ for the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra. The party released the list on Tuesday.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot have also been named as star campaigners for the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.

The announcement comes as the Congress has decided to contest the Mumbai civic elections independently, while strongly opposing the inclusion of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.

Party leaders said the list was finalised after a series of review meetings and detailed discussions on campaign strategy.

In the recently concluded local body elections, the Congress registered limited gains in parts of Vidarbha, particularly Chandrapur, and in Marathwada. The party claimed it won 41 municipal council president posts and over 1,000 councillor seats on the Congress symbol.

State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said the party’s performance reflected its resilience despite “adverse conditions” and asserted that the Congress was emerging as a key opposition force at the grassroots level.

Addressing a public meeting in Dhule on Tuesday, Mr. Sapkal said, “The Congress is a party that stands with everyone and works to uphold unity in diversity. On the other hand, the BJP’s politics is divisive — creating rifts on the basis of caste and religion and disturbing social harmony. The Congress was given a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections and also performed well in the municipal elections.”

Elections to 29 civic bodies, including Mumbai, will be held on January 15, with results to be declared the following day. The polls will cover 2,869 seats and an electorate of over 3.48 crore voters, and are expected to be a crucial contest between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition MVA.

The State Election Commission recently allowed political parties to increase the number of star campaigners from 20 to 40, a provision the Congress has fully utilised to campaign across the state.