Mumbai: On a day of few surprises and foregone conclusions, the BJP extended the support of all its 82 corporators in the BMC to power the Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar to the post of Mayor. Mr. Mahadeshwar, 56, is the city’s 76th Mayor. He cornered a comprehensive 171 votes of the 218 polled on Wednesday: 84 from the Sena, 82 from BJP, four from independents and one from Akhil Bharatiya Sena corporator Geeta Gawli.
In comparison, the Congress’s Vithal Lokre secured 31 votes. The BJP had earlier pulled out of the mayoral election, instead preferring to extend support to the Sena candidate. Nine NCP corporators and six from the Samajawadi Party chose to abstain from voting despite being present in the House. Both AIMIM corporators and all nine MNS representatives skipped the election.
Dilip Lande, leader of the MNS in the BMC, said party corporators had abstained from voting to protest what they claimed was a cheating of the people of the city by the Shiv Sena. Independent corporator Mumtaz Rahabar Khan from Bandra, who had earlier decided to support the BJP, also stayed away from the proceedings.
Mr. Mahadeshwar, a third-time corporator, has earlier served as chairman of the BMC’s Education Committee and was also a member of the Standing Committee. As the House assembled to elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, BJP corporators, sporting saffron turbans, entered chanting, “Modi, Modi.”
The relations between BJP and the Sena, partners in the State and Central governments, hit a new low during the campaign for the civic elections in Maharashtra, which saw them hurling charges at each other. The Sena had even threatened to pull out of the BJP-led Stae government. The BJP put up a splendid performance in all parts of the State and shook Sena’s citadel, Mumbai, where it has enjoyed power since its formation in the 1960s. With PTI inputs
