The unopposed elections came after Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP's) Shital Sawant and Congress leader Ashwini Landge withdrew from the mayoral contest while NCP Corporator Dattatray Bahirat and Congress’s Sahil Kedari pulled out of the deputy mayoral race
Manjusha Nagpure. PIC/X
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Corporator Manjusha Nagpure was elected unopposed as mayor of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday, while Republican Party of India (Athawale) Corporator from Bopodi, Parshuram Wadekar, became the deputy mayor, news agency PTI reported.
The unopposed elections came after Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP's) Shital Sawant and Congress leader Ashwini Landge withdrew from the mayoral contest while NCP Corporator Dattatray Bahirat and Congress’s Sahil Kedari pulled out of the deputy mayoral race.
Nagpure, a corporator from the Sinhagad area, is closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and holds a postgraduate degree in management.
In the 165-member PMC, the BJP won 119 seats, while the late Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP(SP) together secured 30 seats. Congress won 15 seats, and its ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) managed just one.
Union Minister and Pune Member of Parliament (MP) Murlidhar Mohol expressed gratitude to voters for giving the BJP a majority in the civic body.
"As a result, today, our corporators Nagpure and Wadekar were elected unopposed as mayor and deputy mayor," he said.
Latur mayoral polls: 'Being sidelined by Congress after civic poll win,' says VBA
The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Prakash Ambedkar, on Sunday accused the Congress of ignoring it after winning elections to the Latur Municipal Corporation and said it would contest the mayoral and deputy mayoral polls if denied a share in power.
Congress city president Kiran Jadhav said the party would follow guidance from its state leadership on the matter.
In the recent Latur civic polls, Congress won 43 of the 70 wards, followed by the BJP with 22 seats, and the VBA with four. For the mayoral post, Congress corporator Jayshri Sonkamble and VBA’s Nikita Somwanshi submitted nominations on Thursday, while Snehal Utage (Congress) and Sachin Gaikwad (VBA) filed for deputy mayor. The elections are scheduled for February 9.
VBA’s Marathwada general secretary Santosh Suryawanshi claimed that Congress benefited from its informal alliance with the VBA and returned to power in Latur, alleging that the party was now sidelining the VBA.
He alleged that despite the VBA’s electoral win, the Congress has been delaying giving the party its due representation—such as the deputy mayor’s post or positions in civic committees. Citing local Congress leaders, he added that Latur MLA Amit Deshmukh has been authorised to make the decision.
(With PTI inputs)
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