The BJP has fielded 21 Hindi-speaking candidates for the civic polls, with north Indian voters expected to play a decisive role in over 110 wards
Mumbai: In a bid to consolidate north Indian voters in its favour ahead of the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Mumbai BJP chief Amit Satam has written to the Uttar Pradesh BJP leadership seeking the deployment of at least ten influential leaders, including actor-politicians Ravi Kishan and Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua, to campaign for BJP and Mahayuti candidates.
The BJP has fielded 21 Hindi-speaking candidates for the civic polls, with north Indian voters expected to play a decisive role in over 110 wards. According to party insiders, the state BJP has also approached several prominent north Indian leaders, including BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from North-East Delhi Manoj Tiwari, to campaign in Mumbai.
Mr. Tiwari is scheduled to campaign on Wednesday afternoon in ward number 3 in support of BJP candidate Prakash Darekar, the brother of BJP MLC and Mumbai District Central Co-operative Bank chairman Pravin Darekar.
This newspaper has accessed a copy of the letter, written in Hindi and addressed to the Uttar Pradesh BJP president and organisational secretary. The letter states: “We would like to inform you that elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation are scheduled for January 15, 2026. For the successful conduct of these elections and to ensure organisational success, we require the guidance and active support of experienced office-bearers and senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh.”
According to the letter, the BJP has sought the services of Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur Ravi Kishan, former Azamgarh MP Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua, MLAs Surendra Chaurasia, Manish Kumar Jaiswal, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, Avadhesh Singh and Ramesh Jaiswal, as well as Aparna Yadav.
A senior BJP leader said leaders from eastern Uttar Pradesh were being prioritised as a significant section of Mumbai’s north Indian population traces its roots to districts such as Azamgarh, Deoria, Kushinagar, Jaunpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
Confirming the campaign schedule, BJP candidate Prakash Darekar said Manoj Tiwari would visit the Ketkipada and Dharkhadi areas of ward number 3 around 1 pm on Wednesday.
According to BJP insiders, Mumbai and its suburbs have nearly 25 lakh north Indian voters, who have considerable influence in areas such as Dahisar, Borivali, Magathane, Dindoshi, Malad, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Kandivali (East), Bhandup (West), Sion-Koliwada, Ghatkopar (West), Vikhroli, Bandra (East), Mankhurd, Kurla, Kalina, Chandivali, Andheri (East) and Versova.
R. U. Singh, Uttar Bharatiya Sampark Pramukh of the Mumbai BJP, said north Indian voters would support BJP candidates in the civic elections “to teach a lesson” to the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which he alleged had consistently insulted and treated the city’s hard-working north Indian population unfairly.
