Reliable MVA sources said Kalmadi announced the candidature at a meeting of corporators on Wednesday night. They said Kalmadi rushed to Mumbai today to discuss the issue with Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Pramod Mahajan and Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde.

Kalmadi will formally announce Vyavhare's candidature after getting a green signal from the saffron alliance. The MVA does not anticipate any problem in getting alliance nod to Vyavhare's candidature as ``both the BJP and the Sena have no powerful candidate, who can take on the Congress nominee''.

MVA leaders say the alliance is not ready for the election as both the parties want each other to contest the election in absence of an influential candidate. They maintain that Congress candidate Ramkrishna More was elected unopposed last time only because of the casual attitude of the alliance leaders.

Local BJP and Sena leaders are not aware of Vyavhare's candidature. They admit that Kalmadi had not taken them into confidence. They said they would not allow Congress candidate to be elected unopposed this time. They said they would follow the decision of their leaders. They feel Kalmadi has decided to field his candidate to ensure that his bunch of MVA corporatos remains united.

They do not rule out the possibility of Kalmadi's corporators voting for the Congress nominee if the MVA did not field a candidate. The Congress, which enjoys numerical strength in the constituency is yet to decide on its candidate because of differences over the issue. While eight party leaders have sought party nomination, only three -- Ramkrishna More, Ankush Kakade and Anil Bhosale -- are considered as serious contenders. While Kakade is a known supporter of Sharad Pawar, Anil Bhosale is close to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Prataprao Bhosale. The supporters of Ramkrishna More have been demanding that he be renominated since he did not get a full term. Some party leaders, however, strongly oppose More's candidature.

The last date for filing nomination papers is October 27 while the voting will take place on November 13.