Ahmedabad, Oct 21 (PTI) BJP councillor Hitesh Makwana was elected unopposed as the new mayor of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) on Thursday during the first general board meeting of the newly elected civic body in Gujarat. This time, the post of Gandhinagar"s mayor for the first term of 2.5 years has been reserved for a corporator from the Scheduled Caste category. The fifth mayor of the capital city, Makwana will remain on the post for two and half years, following which a woman will be elected as the mayor for the remaining term as per the law. "I thank the BJP and its leadership for giving me this responsibility. Gandhinagar city was developed extensively by our predecessors. Now, we will extend this development to 18 villages and Pethapur municipality, which have been newly added," Makwana told reporters. During the meeting, BJP corporator Premalsinh Gol was elected as the new deputy mayor of Gandhinagar, while Jaswant Patel became the chairman of the standing committee. In the recently held polls to the GMC, the ruling BJP retained power by winning 41 out of total 44 seats of 10 wards, decimating both the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party by a huge margin as both parties won two and one seat respectively. PTI PJT ARU ARU