BJP keeps name under wraps | Pimpri-Chinchwad’s 27th mayor to take charge on February 6

The nomination submission date has been scheduled for February 2 between 3 pm and 5pm Monday.

Municipal Secretary Mukesh Kolap said nominations will be accepted only within the stipulated time frame at his office.

As per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 16 members of the standing committee will also be appointed on the same day besides 9 members of five special committees.

Appointments to these committees will be based on the proportional representation of political parties or groups. For the Women and Child Welfare Committee, at least 75% of the members will be appointed from among the female corporators, Gholap said.

In the recently held civic elections, the BJP returned to power once again with a brute majority in PCMC. It will have 84 of its own corporators besides one independent corporator who was backed by the party during the campaigning. The NCP will sit in the opposition with 37 corporators. The Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde will have 6 corporators.

Though there are several claimants for the mayoral posts, the BJP Pimpri-Chinchwad unit said it has not yet taken a decision. “We have not even discussed the names. We will be doing so either on Sunday or on Tuesday,” BJP’s Chinchwad MLA Shankar Jagtap, told The Indian Express.

Jagtap said irrespective of whether the mayoral candidate is from Chinchwad, Bhosari or Pimpri assembly constituency areas, the decision will be taken by the core committee of the party. “After that we will send the name to the party’s state leadership for final approval,” Jagtap said. Another party MLA Mahesh Landge is said to be out of station. He will play a key role in picking the mayor.

BJP leaders said there are 85 corporators and it will be difficult to make a choice. “Since the seat is for general category candidate, anyone can stake claim. It will be a difficult choice to make,” said a party leader.

Among the key names doing rounds are that of BJP Pimpri-Chinchwad president Shatrughan Kate and two other party corporators including Rahul Kalate, Ravi Landge and Sheetal Shinde.

Kate said he lost the opportunity to become mayor twice and therefore he was hoping that the party would now give him the nod.

26 mayors so far

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation came into being in 1982. The first general elections were held in 1986. The first mayor was also elected the same year. Dnyaneshwar Landge, the “gaonwallah” or son of the soil, was the first mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad during the first five-year tenure of the Congress. He was elected for a one year term. His son Nitin Landge then became the standing committee chairman of PCMC during the BJP rule from 2017 to 2022. The Landges are a prominent family from Bhosari area.

Bhiku Wahgere-Patil was the second mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad in 1987. He hailed from Pimprigaon. His son, Sanjog Waghere later became the mayor in 1995-96. They are the only father-son duo to became the mayors in the history of PCMC.

Vilas Lande, again from Bhosari, had become the mayor in 1993-94. His wife, Mohini Lande, was elected as mayor. She had a two and half year term from 2012. The Landes are the only couple to become the mayors of Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Tatya Kadam from Akurdi-Sambhajinagar area had become the mayor in 1988-89. His sister-in-law Mangala Kadam then became the mayor from 2005-2007.

Mangala Kadam is rated as the most popular mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad, followed by Yogesh Behl. Mangala Kadam had during her tenure reportedly attended 18,000 public functions, events and meetings. “I had a very busy mayoral tenure. There were scores of public functions to attend. I made it a point not to disappoint anyone,” Kadam told this paper today.

Behl, a Punjabi, known for speaking impeccable Marathi, was also much sought after mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad. His close association with Ajit Pawar also enhanced his reputation as a bigwig politician of the industrial city.

Of the 26 mayors that Pimpri-Chinchwad has seen so far, at least seven had two-and-a-half-year tenures, while the rest of them had just one. Of the 26, one was a Muslim in Azam Pansare, one a Tamilian in R S Kumar from Pradhikaran, one a Punjabi, one of them was a from ST community Shakuntala Darade and two from the OBC community — Kavichand Bhat and Vaishali Ghodekar, otherwise most of the mayors were from Maratha community.

Anita Pharande of Chinchwad was the first woman mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad. She became mayor in 1997-98.

Babu Nair, a Congress leader said, “From 1986 to 1999, all the mayors belonged to the Congress. After that NCP and BJP had their mayors.”

Toughest mayoral poll

Nair said most of the mayoral elections were unopposed. “The very first election held in 1986 was the toughest one where Dnyaneshwar Landge fought against Sopanrao Bhoir. I remember Landge won by just couple of votes,” Nair said.

Nair said even the elections of Kavichand Bhat and Prabhakar Sathe as mayors saw a close contest. “Otherwise most of the elections were unopposed as the parties like NCP and BJP enjoyed brute majority in PCMC House,” he said.

Till 1997, the mayoral elections were held through voting system. “After that, the mayor has been elected through show of hands by corporators,” he said.