Maharashtra local body polls: BJP corporator Kavita Mule elected Nanded mayor

Bharatiya Janata Party BJP corporator Kavita Mule was elected Mayor of Nanded city in central Maharashtra on Tuesday winning by a margin of 35 votes in a threeway contest an official said reported news agency PTIAnother BJP corporator Deepaksingh Rawat was chosen as Deputy Mayor of the Nanded Waghala Municipal Corporation NWMC where elections were conducted last month alongside 28 other civic bodies across the stateMule defeated her nearest opponent Mahejbin Abdul Faheem a candidate of the CongressVanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBA combine by 35 votes the official added The Mayorrsquos post was reserved for a woman reported PTIA special meeting to elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor was held at the NWMC headquarters in the presence of the presiding officer and Nanded District Collector Rahul KardileIn the 81member corporation the BJP secured a comfortable majority with 45 seats The party was supported by the Shiv Sena which won four seats and an independent member also extended support to the BJP for the two postsFor the Mayorrsquos post BJP candidate Kavita Mule secured 50 votes while her nearest rival Faheem received 15 votes and All India MajliseIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM corporator Alkesri Sumayya received 14 votes the official said reported PTIBJP wins Chandrapur mayorrsquos post with Sena UBT support Congress alleges horsetradingThe Congress which appeared set to secure the mayorrsquos post in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation faced a setback on Tuesday after BJP corporator Sangeeta Khandekar was elected Mayor with backing from Shiv Sena UBTPrashant Danav of Shiv Sena UBT was elected Deputy MayorNominations for the mayoral post included Manasvi Sandeep Girhe Shiv Sena UBT Sangeeta Mangal Bhoyar Sangeeta Gopalakrishna Amritkar Sunanda Dilip Dhobe and Vaishali Ajay Mahadule Congress along with BJPrsquos Sangeeta Rajendra Khandekar and Sarika Sachin SandurkarKhandekar edged out her nearest rival by a single vote thanks to the support of Shiv Sena UBT surprising political observers who had expected the party to back CongressState Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged horsetrading blaming Sena UBT AIMIM and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBA for the outcome ldquoThe BJP secured 32 votes and Congress 31 Sena UBT has six corporators and was expected to support Congress but instead backed the BJP This will have consequences in the staterdquo Sapkal saidThe January 15 civic polls had delivered a fractured mandate Congress emerged as the largest party with 27 seats in the 66member body followed by BJP with 23 Sena UBT won six seats Bharatiya Shetkari Kamgar Paksh Janvikas Sena three VBA two AIMIM and BSP one each along with two independentsSapkal added that the BJP gained the upper hand with support from AIMIM while VBA corporators stayed absent during voting ldquoHad VBA with whom we had a genuine alliance supported Congress our candidate would have won This is clearly horsetradingrdquo he saidAddressing internal divisions in Chandrapur Congress Sapkal asserted that party corporators were united and differences among leaders had been resolved ldquoIt is only because of Sena UBT AIMIM and VBA that the BJP could install its mayorrdquo he addedWith PTI inputs