Shiv Sena’s Pednekar wins unopposed

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Friday won the posts of mayor and deputy mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) unopposed. While the new mayor will be Kishori Pednekar, fellow Sainik Suhas Wadkar will be the new deputy mayor.  

The mayoral elections took place at a time when the Shiv Sena is locked in a tussle with its former ally, the BJP. While the Sena and the BJP fought the Assembly elections together, disagreements over power sharing led to the two parties parting ways.

In an unexpected move, the BJP, the second largest party in the BMC with 82 corporators, as well as other parties chose not to file nominations for both the posts.

Meanwhile, the impact of the newly-formed ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ was clearly seen in the BMC headquarters. Once Ms Pednekar was announced as the new mayor, corporators from Congress and NCP banged their benches to congratulate her. Several corporators from the two parties also came forward to wish Ms Pednekar. In contrast, Sena’s former ally, BJP, did not react and also a few made the effort to wish her. Among the BJP corporators who wished Ms Pednekar were Prabhakar Shinde, Atul Shah,  Shivkumar Jha.

While describing her vision for the city, Ms Pednekar promised to work towards saving water by focusing on the rainwater-harvesting scheme and the wastewater-recycling program. She also promised to run a campaign to create awareness over organ donation.