Nilesh Rathod is new city mayor for next six months

Vadodara: The BJP picked up Nilesh Rathod, a corporator from Tarsali and a member of the standing committee of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), as the city mayor for the next six months. Sayajigunj MLA Keyur Rokadiya’s resignation from the post of mayor was cleared by the general board of the civic body on Friday.
Rokadiya had tendered his resignation in line with the party’s decision of not allowing newly elected MLAs to hold other important posts. While he had given a letter in this regard to the municipal secretary on February 15, it was made public on February 21.
A meeting of the general board of the civic body was convened on Friday to accept Rokadiya’s resignation and then elect the new mayor. While the agenda for this meeting was circulated on March 2, the BJP did not announce the name of the new mayor till the last moment.
Heavy politicking was witnessed for the post though the new mayor was to hold the post only till September 20. It was also believed that a woman may be picked up for the post and she may continue as the mayor for 2.5 years after September 20 as the next term of the mayor is reserved for a woman.
The party, however, on Tuesday sent a mandate for Rathod to the city unit BJP president Dr Vijay Shah. Rathod has been a corporator for three straight terms since 2010. After being elected in 2020, Rathod was also given a place in the standing committee. He has held the post of the leader of the ruling party in VMC on two occasions in the past.
After being elected as the mayor, Rathod resigned as the standing committee member on Friday. The BJP will now have to name another person to replace Rathod in the committee.