Mayor’s selection slated for February 6

 

 

 

The stage is set for choosing the new Mayor and the date is set on February 6. The special meet of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) House is going to be held at Suresh Bhat auditorium at 11 am, states a notification issued by Divisional Commissioner Vijayalaxmi Bidari. Alongside Mayor, the election of Deputy Mayor is also going to be held at the same meeting. Divisional Commissioner has nominated District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar to preside over the special meet. Collector will oversee the nomination process and conduct the election, in case same is necessitated. As per the schedule, the next Mayor is going to be a woman from Open category. On February 6, the respective parties will nominate their candidates, and if necessary the voting would be conducted, either by show of hand or through ballot. 

 

 

Given the brute majority enjoyed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the election process is going to be a smooth affair or say just a formality. In the House of 151 members, BJP has 102 members plus one of ally, Shiv Sena (Shinde). The second largest party is Congress which has 34 members. As the BJP's top brass are still holding cards to their chest, the speculations about the name of next Mayor continue to remain afloat in the political circles of the city. Could it be a rank new comer, or the party bosses go for a senior woman corporator to don the chair of Mayor remains to be seen. Since the Mayor is going to be a woman from Open category, the BJP would definitely give chance to some senior corporator from males to become the Deputy Mayor, said the insiders. 

 

 

Although the notification about the Mayor election is out, given the current state of affairs in Maharashtra, the date may get postponed. The reason being the unexpected and tragic death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar which has cast a shadow on the political situation in the all important state of Maharashtra. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is an important partner in the ruling coalition in State and there is high possibility that the election process for Mayor's election might get deferred by few days. The BJP is yet to register itself as per norms with the Divisional Commissioner. Now that there is three days of mourning in State, the process is going to be completed by BJP just on eve of the Mayor's election, it seems.