Ahmednagar civic body: Sena-NCP candidates elected unopposed as mayor, deputy

The Shiv Sena-NCP alliance candidates, Rohini Shendage and Ganesh Bhosale, were elected unopposed as the mayor and the deputy mayor, respectively, of Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation Wednesday.

A formal announcement was made by presiding officer and District Collector Rajendra Bhosale at the civic body’s virtual meeting on the day. Only two applications were received for the posts as the BJP did not field any candidates.

The mayoral polls were necessitated after incumbent mayor Babasaheb Wakale of the BJP, and deputy mayor Malan Dhone (NCP) completed their two-and-half-year tenure. In December 2018, the NCP had extended support to the BJP that led the saffron party to install its mayor despite the Sena being the largest party in the civic body. In the 68-member Ahmednagar civic body, Sena has 23 corporators, NCP 18, BJP 15, and Congress five.

The Sena-NCP alliance in the civic polls assumes significance in the backdrop of the Congress leaders’ statement of contesting the next Assembly elections solo. The statements had not gone down well with the Sena chief and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who had openly expressed his displeasure.

Subsequently, the Congress leadership had summoned the state Congress president, Nana Patole, to Delhi and is believed to have instructed him to avoid making such statements and not to disturb the MVA alliance.

Meanwhile, the NCP had taken a stand to fight elections in alliance with the Sena, if Congress decided to contest alone.