Citizens would be happy to know that several professionals, including doctors, engineers and MBAs, have sought tickets to contest the Nagpur Municipal Corporation  (NMC) polls on February 16. Many of these ticket seekers were interviewed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries recently for the finalization of party nominations.

According to statistics provided by city BJP office, as many as 31 candidates holding BE degree sought party tickets from across the city. Similarly, 24 lawyers were also among the ticket seekers, besides 17 doctors and six chartered accountants wishing to contest the civic polls.

BJP city unit president Anil Sole said the party will seriously consider their candidature for the polls. Sole said, "When we asked why they want to join politics, they explained that non-corrupt and qualified people are needed for the country's development. Corporation election is the right place to ensure this, they said." Most of the aspirants support the anti-corruption campaign and the suggestions made by Hazare for an effective Lokpal, he said.

One of the aspirants from North Nagpur, who is a doctor, said, "Our area lacks basic civic amenities, especially drinking water. If I get the ticket, I will focus on all-round civic development. My attempt will be to bring in more funds for various development projects, in order to give civic amenities a much-needed boost."

However, she said that citizens are to be blamed for the present condition of North Nagpur. "The voters have the real power to rectify the situation during elections, but unfortunately they have repeatedly sided with the wrong guys, seduced by their ingenious tricks," she added.

BJP had 56 corporators in the NMC in the last house, and among them at least 25 were graduates, including Rajesh Ghodpage (BE) and Avinash Thakre, who is an MSc in computer science.

The Congress party has also started accepting forms from aspirants for civic polls. Congress city president Jaiprakash Gupta said that on Thursday the party accepted around 200 forms and of them 50% were highly qualified professionals, including doctors, lecturers and advocates. He, however, pointed out that his party will give preference to candidates who have better knowledge of politics.

Associate professor and head of the department of political science in Hislop college Anjali Gaidhane too said qualified people should come forward in the civic polls, which are considered grassroots politics in the country.

"Qualification should be prescribed and preferably post-graduation in political science or economics can be demanded. If it is done now, we can surely hope for a better future," she added. But she was quick to point out that qualification does not guarantee good governance. "That can come only if candidates are honest," she said.