Best-of-five pick ahead for BJP to select mayor

  • | Saturday | 25th February, 2017

"The process for registering the group of party corporators with the divisional commissioner will take place once the names are published. The party will decide about the candidate for the mayoral post and will abide by the party decision." "Five-time corporator Ranjana Bhansi and two-time corporator Suresh Khetade are the two prominent candidates and the front runners. The process is yet to start," added the BJP leader.According to BJP sources, names of all the winning candidates are yet to be published in the gazette. The BJP has won five of those nine seats.

NASHIK: Two prominent tribal faces from the BJP are the front runners for the mayor's post, but there can be a dark horse as well.The mayor's post in the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has been for the first time been reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (SC) category among a draw of lots held by the state government before the polls, involving other civic bodies of the state that went to the polls.Five tribal BJP corporators, including three women, have won from the BJP and since the party has got majority, it would be appointing one of its own tribal corporators for that coveted post."Five-time corporator Ranjana Bhansi and two-time corporator Suresh Khetade are the two prominent candidates and the front runners. But the decision makers of the party can spring a surprise by appointing someone from the other three tribal corporators," a senior BJP leader privy to the development told TOI on Friday.Of the total 122 seats in NMC, nine are reserved for the ST category candidates. The BJP has won five of those nine seats. The Shiv Sena has two corporators and the Congress and the MNS haves one each from ST category.Apart from Bhansi and Khetade, the three other BJP tribal corporators are Sarita Sonawane, Pundalik Khode and Rupali Nikule.Senior BJP officials said the final decision on the mayoral post would be taken by the party high command after consultation with the city unit."We are yet to decide on the mayor candidate. We have a selection committee that decides on the issue. The committee will prepare a report on the mayoral candidates and will send it to our seniors, who will take the decision. The process is yet to start," added the BJP leader.According to BJP sources, names of all the winning candidates are yet to be published in the gazette. "The process for registering the group of party corporators with the divisional commissioner will take place once the names are published. The process for selecting candidates for the mayor's post will begin after all these processes," he said.Bhansi is one of the most veteran corporators and she has been elected for the fifth time from the municipal corporation. Khetade and Khode are the former corporators and they too have experinece. Sonawane is a lecturer by profession, while Nikule is a wife of former corporator Yashwant Nikule.Bhansi, who has been elected the corporator for the fifth time in the municipal corporation, said, "On two occasions, I had contested from seats that were reserved for women and twice from the general category seats and won on a BJP ticket. This time, I contested from the ST category."She added, "I had worked for the ward, for which people of my ward wanted me and I could win for the fifth time because of the trust shown by people. The party will decide about the candidate for the mayoral post and will abide by the party decision."

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Nashik headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles