As expected, corporators of the Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Congress backed BJP rebel Narayan Chaudhary, along with six members from the saffron party, ensuring his victory in the Bhiwandi mayoral polls.
The election for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor was held at the late Vilasrao Deshmukh Hall of the Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation.
Vilas R. Patil of Konark Vikas Aghadi, Adv. Mayuresh Vilas Patil, former mayor Pratibha Patil, Javed Dalvi of Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi, Tariq Momin of Congress, Narayan Chaudhary and Sneha Mehul Patil from the BJP, and Balaram Chaudhary and Suchita Rupesh Mhatre from Shiv Sena had filed their nomination papers for the post of mayor. When candidates were allotted 15 minutes to withdraw their nominations, Tariq Momin, Javed Dalvi, Suchita Mhatre, Balaram Chaudhary, Mayuresh Patil, and Pratibha Patil decided to back out of the race. Narayan Chaudhary, who had filed two nominations, also withdrew one, Marathi media reports said.
The veteran leader emerged victorious, claiming 48 votes, Loksatta said in a report. Chaudhary was expected to face a strong fight after Shiv Sena (Shinde) made both its candidates withdraw to support former mayor Vilas Patil of Konark Vikas Aghadi. However, the support of the six BJP councillors ensured Chaudhary became Bhiwandi's mayor-elect with a clear mandate. In the three-way fight involving Patil, Chaudhary, and the BJP's Sneha Patil, the Konark Vikas Aghadi leader received 25 votes, while the BJP candidate received 16. The Corporation has a total of 90 seats, and 46 are required for a simple majority.
In the municipal elections held last month, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, while the BJP came second with 22 seats, followed by 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 defecting BJP leader.
Earlier this week, BJP district president Ravikant Sawant sent a letter to the corporators declaring that Sneha Patil would be the official candidate. This angered Chaudhary and his supporters, resulting in the party splitting into two.
