BJP’s Vandana Magre elected unopposed as first mayor of Jalna civic body

The formal announcement of their election will be made on Monday. Representational Pic

BJP's newly elected corporator Vandana Magre was elected unopposed as the first mayor of Maharashtra's Jalna Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Friday, as no rival party nominated a candidate against her.

Another BJP corporator, Rajesh Raut, was also elected unopposed as deputy mayor, reported news agency PTI.

Both leaders will serve a 15-month tenure, after which the party plans to give other aspirants an opportunity, a local leader said.

Friday was the last day for filing nomination forms for both posts. The formal announcement of their election will be made on Monday, a civic official said.

In May 2023, the state government elevated the status of the Jalna Municipal Council to that of a municipal corporation. Last month's municipal polls were the first elections of the Jalna civic body since the elevation.

In the 65-member JMC, the BJP secured a majority by winning 41 seats, while Shiv Sena won 12 seats, Congress nine, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) two seats, and one seat went to an independent.

As no nominations were filed by other parties for the posts of mayor or deputy mayor, the election process was completed unopposed.

The mayor's post was reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman candidate. Magre's name had been doing the rounds since the beginning, and she is known to be a supporter of former MLA Kailash Gorantyal, reported PTI.

As decided by the BJP, the tenure of both posts will be 15 months to enable other aspirants to get an opportunity later, BJP leader Bhaskar Danve said.

Magre, along with around two dozen former councillors in Jalna, joined the BJP from the Congress last year.

A meeting was held in Jalna on Thursday to finalise the BJP candidates for the two posts. The meeting was chaired by senior BJP leader and former Union minister Raosaheb Danve.

Elections to 12 Zilla Parishads, 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra to be held on Saturday

Elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 125 Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra will be held on Saturday.

Adequate arrangements, including police deployment, have been made to ensure peaceful polling, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.

Elections to most local bodies in Maharashtra have been pending since 2022.

A total of 7,438 candidates are in the fray for 731 Zilla Parishad (ZP) and 1,462 Panchayat Samiti seats.

(With PTI inputs)