BJP’s Vishal Shirale elected standing committee chairman of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation

Kolhapur: Vishal Kiran Shirale of the BJP was elected the standing committee chairman of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) during a special meeting on Wednesday. The election, held at the Chhatrapati Tararani Assembly Hall, was presided over by additional district collector Sanjay Shinde, acting as the returning officer.In addition to the standing committee, Shiv Sena corporator Satyajit Jadhav was elected the transport committee chairman, while Kausar Bagwan (Shiv Sena) and Deepa Ajit Thanekar (BJP) were elected chairperson and vice-chairperson of the women and child welfare committee, respectively. The proceedings were attended by KMC commissioner K. Manjulekshmi and additional commissioner Ravikant Adsul.Following his victory, Shirale emphasised his commitment to the city's fiscal health. "As the standing committee chairman, my priority will be to make the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) financially independent. In the coming days, the public will see a significant strengthening of the KMC's financial condition," he saId.The 16-member standing committee consists of 7 corporators from Congress, 5 from BJP, 3 from Shiv Sena, and 1 from the NCP. In the final tally, Shirale (Ward 7A) secured 9 votes, defeating Congress candidate Amar Samarth, who received 7 votes.In the transport committee (12 members), Satyajit Jadhav (Ward 11A) won with 8 votes against Congress's Durvas Kadam, who secured 5 votes. For the women and child welfare committee (9 members), Kausar Ismail Bagwan (Ward 18B) defeated Congress's Jayashri Kamble 5-4. Deepa Thanekar (Ward 7B) secured the vice-chairperson's post with 5 votes against Aruna Gawali's 4.The elections were not without controversy. Congress group leader Indrajit Bondre has demanded that the Transport Committee election be nullified and a fresh process be conducted, citing a violation of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act.According to Bondre, the newly elected standing committee vhairman, Vishal Shirale, participated in the hand-vote for the transport committee chairman despite not being a member of that committee."A total of 12 transport committee members were present along with Shirale. During the voting, Shirale also raised his hand to vote," Bondre said. "Our candidate, Durvas Kadam, immediately objected, arguing that a non-member has no right to vote in this specific election. However, the objection was ignored and the vote was counted."Bondre cited Section 25(2) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, which stipulates that only the 12 designated members of the transport committee are eligible to participate in the election of its chairman. "The law is clear; the standing committee chairman does not have a vote here. We will take legal action if this selection is not cancelled," Bondre said.