Shobha Somanache elected Belagavi Mayor unopposed, Reshma Patil defeats MES nominee to become Deputy Mayor

Both candidates belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party which has a majority with 35 councillors in the 58-member House

Shobha Somanache (left) and Reshma Patil flash the victory sign after their election as Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively, in Belagavi on Monday. | Photo Credit: P.K. Badiger

The BJP assumed power in the Belagavi City Corporation Council that had remained headless for nearly three years. The BJP is the majority party with 35 members in the 58-member House.

In the elections held on Monday, Shobha Somanache, senior member from ward number 57, was elected unopposed as Mayor. The seat was reserved for a woman from general category.

The elections to the Deputy Mayor’s post were contested by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti through Ashwini Bhatkhande. She scored four votes and lost to the BJP’s Reshma Patil who polled 42 votes. The MES has four members in the House.

BJP leaders hope that they have managed to get votes of seven of the 12 Independent members.

Regional Commissioner and Returning Officer M.G. Hiremath announced the results after scrutiny of nomination papers and voting for the Deputy Mayor’s post.

In the morning, the BJP announced its candidates for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts.

Ms. Somanache was asked to submit nomination papers for the post of Mayor and Ms. Patil, member from ward number 33, was asked to submit nomination papers for the post of Deputy Mayor.

Both belong to Maratha Kshatriya community. They were expected to win as both are single nominees and because the BJP has the majority in the House.

Belagavi had gone without an elected urban local body and without a Mayor and a Deputy Mayor for nearly three years.

When the House convened, all the elected members were given their oath of office. MES members shouted slogans for a unified Maharashtra that includes Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking cities.

The 58 members were elected 16 months ago. But they could not take oath due to some legal issues.

Meanwhile, Rajshekar Doni was elected the floor leader of the majority party. He is a Kannada-speaking Lingayat.

The nomination papers were filed within an hour from the start of the election process.

Earlier, senior members of the party held a meeting in a private hotel in the city. A core committee meeting was held on Sunday night too. They pushed for single set of nomination papers and unanimous elections. State vice-president and member of the BJP State Executive Nirmal Kumar Surana chaired the meeting where aspirants put forward their claims.

Sarika Patil, who was considered a favourite for the Mayoral post from the party district unit, was not selected. That was because of lack of consensus among corporators in the party meeting on Sunday night, party sources said.

Some members even opposed the idea of single nominees and preferred voting for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. But this was rejected by senior leaders. The names were agreed upon at the meeting on Monday.

Members of Legislative Assembly Abhay Patil and Anil Benake were present at the two meetings.