UBT’s Khwaja elected Parbhani mayor with Cong’s support after Chandrapur political shocker

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Mayoral election in Parbhani unfolded with unexpected calm on Thursday, especially after the political shocker in Chandrapur where Congress lost the Chandrapur mayoral contest partly due to the Shiv Sena (UBT) siding with BJP. Congress chose not to retaliate, and instead stood firmly by its alliance commitments. As a result, Sena (UBT) candidate Sayyed Iqbal Sayyed Khwaja was elected Parbhani mayor. Sena (UBT), which has a significant number of Muslim corporators in the city, leaned on its minority support base, while Congress strategically nominated Ganesh Deshmukh for the deputy mayor's post, who won too. In the 65-member Parbhani Municipal Corporation, Sena (UBT) holds 25 seats and needed Congress's 12 corporators to secure victory. When the votes were counted, Khwaja emerged victorious with 39 votes, defeating BJP's Tirumala Khillare, who received 26.Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal emphasised that his party's decision reflected its commitment to alliance ethics. Speaking in Buldhana, he said, "Sena (UBT) did not uphold the spirit of the alliance in Chandrapur, where it supported BJP in the mayoral poll. Congress, however, kept its word in the Parbhani mayoral election. Our party does not believe in harbouring resentment or seeking revenge over the stand taken by Sena (UBT) in Chandrapur."Earlier, Sena (UBT)'s Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav insisted that the Chandrapur episode had no bearing on Parbhani's political dynamics. On the ground, he said, Congress and Sena (UBT) continued to share strong coordination and mutual understanding.Analysts said with nearly half of its corporators belonging to the minority community, Sena (UBT)'s decision to back a Muslim candidate for mayor might invite criticism from opponents in the days ahead — especially given the party's earlier history of appealing to communal sentiments when it was united. "However, after securing the Parbhani Lok Sabha seat with help from its MVA partners, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has consciously shifted its strategy. Offering more tickets to minority candidates has become part of its larger plan to expand its support base in the region," a political analyst said.