In yet another setback to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday bagged the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of the Akola Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra. This comes days after councillors of the BJP, the Shiv Sena and both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) formed an alliance in Akola.
With this, BJP's Sharda Khedkar and Amol Goge were elected as the new mayor and deputy mayor of the Akola Municipal Corporation.
Speaking to reporters, Akola Municipal Commissioner Sunil Lahane said that Khedkar received 45 votes, while Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Surekha Kale received 32 votes. He Khedkar was backed by 38 BJP corporators, three from NCP(SP), one each from NCP and Shiv Sena, and two independents.
He noted that independent corporator Ashish Pavitrakar, who had rebelled against the BJP and joined the Congress, also voted for Khedkar. Similarly, for the post deputy mayor, Goge defeated Congress' Azad Khan Aliyar Khan, who received 32 votes. Goge had received 45 votes, according to Lahane.
Lahane also noted that three corporators of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) remained neutral. The Congress has criticised the AIMIM for remaining neutral and alleged that Owaisi's party is supporting the BJP.
Elections to the 80-member Akola Municipal Corporation, along with all other civic bodies in Maharashtra, were held on January 15 and the results were declared on January 16. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 38 seats. The Congress won 21, the Shiv Sena (UBT) six, Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) five, AIMIM and NCP (SP) three each, Shiv Sena and NCP one each.
Meanwhile, the BJP had registered a big victory in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), the BJP won 1,372 seats, the Shiv Sena 394, Congress 315, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) six, NCP 158, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) 12, Shiv Sena (UBT) 149, and NCP (SP) 36. It had also noted that the overall turnout during the elections in the 29 civic bodies was somewhere between 46 and 50 per cent.
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