In a major shocker for the BJP, the party will likely lose the Mayoral post of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation after senior leader Narayan Chaudhary took nine councillors along with him to join the Congress-led Bhiwandi Secular Front.
The Front now has 51 seats, including 30 Congress and 12 NCP (SP) councillors. The Corporation has a total of 90 seats, and 46 are required for a simple majority. This is a crucial figure in the mayoral race.
In the municipal elections held last month, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, while the BJP came in second with 22 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena with 12, the Samajwadi Party with 6, Vilas Patil's Konark Vikas Aghadi with 4, and the Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi with 3. An independent candidate also won in this election.
With Chaudhary’s power move, the Congress announced that the official candidate of the Front would be the defected BJP leader. Congress senior vice-president Ganesh Patil has given a letter to the party's group leader in the Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation, supporting Narayan Chaudhary for the post of Mayor in the elections to be held on Friday. Momin Tariq Abdul Wari, the party’s group leader, will be the Deputy Mayor.
This decision has created new equations in local politics and has created a stir in political circles. Also, the mayoral election has become a tight one.
Reason for Chaudhary’s defection
Chaudhary’s reason to switch sides has to do with how the BJP walked back after first proposing his name as the Mayoral candidate.
On February 5, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan sent a letter to district president Ravikant Sawant declaring Chaudhary as the Mayoral candidate. However, BJP corporator Sneha Mehul Patil had also filed his nomination papers along with Chaudhary.
On February 17, District President Ravikant Sawant sent a letter to the corporators, declaring that Mehul Patil will be the official candidate. This angered Chaudhary and his supporters, resulting in the party splitting into two. Chaudhary also held a press conference on Wednesday and said that he had decided to hold talks with the 'Bhiwandi Secular Front' formed by the Congress and Sharad Pawar group. It was shortly after this that Congress declared Chaudhary as its official candidate.
