Ms. Shaik Nurjahan of the TDP, a fresher in politics, has become the first woman to occupy the coveted mayoral post in the Eluru Municipal Corporation. District Collector and Special Officer Siddharth Jain declared her elected unopposed on Thursday as he did not receive any other nomination from the opposition YSRC for the post.
The post of Mayor was reserved for a BC woman. The TDP had announced the candidature of Ms. Nurjahan (35) for the post much ahead of the municipal elections. Her election became hassle-free, as the TDP secured 41 divisions and its ally, the BJP one, out of the total 50 divisions in the corporation. The YSRC lacked sufficient numbers to stake claim for the post.
Local MP Maganti Venkateswara Rao (Babu) and city MLA Badeti Kotarama Rao (Bujji) escorted Ms. Nurjahan to the podium upon her declaration as Mayor by Mr. Jain in his capacity as Election Officer. The 50-member council looked colourful, with more than half the members being women and new entrants to politics. A good number of members took the oath of office in English. Curiously yellow ‘kanduva’ dominated the scene by virtue of the TDP’s strength in the council.
The election in Narsapur was not as smooth as the one in Eluru. It gave tense movements to the ruling party till the last minute and became a test for its manoeuvring skills, as it fell short of numbers. The score was tied in Narsapur with the TDP and the YSRC evenly placed (14 each) in the 31 ward-municipality. With this, three independents became a deciding factor and the TDP succeeded to woo them in its favour in the last minute by offering the post of Deputy Chairperson to one of them.
Endowment Minister Pidikondala Manikyala Rao of the BJP personally supervised the election at Tadepalligudem. The TDP won all Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson posts in eight municipalities and the EMC.
Who’s who in WG civic bodies
