Pune: Ravi Landge, BJP corporator from ward 6, is set to be elected mayor of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) unopposed as his nomination was the only one filed for the post on Monday after NCP chose not to field a candidate, citing the demise of party president and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. BJP’s Sharmila Babar and NCP’s Vaishali Kalbhor filed nominations for deputy mayor’s position, setting the stage for a voting on Feb 6 when the first general body meeting of the civic body will be held. Though BJP enjoys a clear majority with 83 seats in the 128-member house, NCP is counting on cross-voting. Officials said an official announcement on the two posts will be made on the same day.Landge, a former standing committee chairperson, was elected corporator unopposed for the second consecutive time after his rival candidates pulled out from the race on the last day of nomination withdrawal. He is the nephew of late Ankushrao Landge, former city president of BJP’s Pimpri Chinchwad unit, who played a key role in expanding the party’s presence in the twin city. PCMC municipal secretary Mukesh Kolap told TOI: “Only one nomination was received for mayor’s post, while two nominations were filed for that of deputy mayor. A general body meeting to elect mayor and deputy mayor has been convened on Feb 6.” The civic body had set time between 3pm and 5pm on Monday for aspirants to file nominations for the election to the two top positions. BJP corporator Prashant Shitole, who was elected group leader of the party in PCMC, said, “Ravi Landge’s name was finalised by the party’s senior leadership.” According to BJP sources, the party’s state president had, in an official letter to the city president, named Sheetal alias Vijay Shinde as the nominee for deputy mayor’s position. However, he declined, stating he was aspiring for mayor’s post. Babar’s name was finalised after Shinde refused to file his nomination.“Since elections for mayor and deputy mayor are being held after 6.5 years, there were several hopefuls, but the party leadership had to choose only one name for each post. A decision on the nominee for standing committee chairperson will be made in two weeks,” Shitole said.Kalbhor, when asked how she plans to secure votes when BJP has a majority, said, “Anything can happen in an election. I filed my papers only after I received a call from NCP’s city president.”Landge is set to be Pimpri Chinchwad’s 27th mayor.
