BMC polls: Congress internal report suggests Riteish Deshmukh, Sonu Sood and Milind Soman for Mayoral post

An internal report of the Congress has suggested the names of actor-activist Sonu Sood, actor and celebrity Riteish Deshmukh and model-turned-fitness enthusiast Milind Soman as possible candidates for the coveted post of Mumbai Mayor.

The elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are just months away and the Congress has decided to go alone and have launched preparations.

The report drafted by Ganesh Kumar Yadav, the Secretary of Strategy Committee of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) has stressed on the need to declare the Mayor candidate before the polls.

“The Mayor candidate should not have political baggage, should be from a public background and should have some appeal among youths and other sections of society,” the report states.

The report suggests the names of Sonu Sood, Riteish Deshmukh and Milind Soman.

However, it goes on to add that the Mayor candidate could be from a professional background like a well-known architect, town-planning expert, start-up owner.

The report has gone viral on WhatsApp groups.

When contacted, Yadav said: "I have not given any report to the media...you can ask the MRCC President."

However, he refused to comment whether he has given any report to the Congress leadership.

Jagtap could not be reached for comments.

“The party can in fact declare a Mayor candidate and also give some tickets to young professionals, social activists, start-up owners as an image building exercise,” the report states.

Sonu Sood is a senior actor and he has emerged as a saviour of lakhs of migrant workers by sending them home during the nationwide lockdown after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Riteish Deshmukh is a senior actor and son of late Congressman and two-time former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Milind Soman, a national-level swimmer, was a successful supermodel, actor and now is a fitness evangelist.