BJP’s Sanap, Bolkar and Kulkarni emerge as frontrunners for NMC standing committee chairperson post

Nashik: Two-time BJP corporator Machhindra Sanap, who withdrew from the deputy mayor's race on Feb 10 following instructions of senior party functionaries, is now a leading contender for the post of chairperson of NMC's standing committee. Along with Sanap, Madhuri Bolkar and Deepali Kulkarni of BJP are also in the race for the post. However, a final decision is expected to be taken by state cabinet minister Girish Mahajan, the state BJP leadership and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP enjoys a clear majority in the 16-member standing committee of Nashik Municipal Corporation, holding nine seats. After the committee's constitution on Feb 16, the NMC town secretary wrote to Nashik divisional commissioner Praveen Gedam, requesting that the election schedule for the chairperson's post be announced. According to an official from the town secretary department, the process is expected to be followed within the next two or three days. During the recent deputy mayoral election, BJP initially nominated Sanap, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena finalised Vilas Shinde. At the last moment, the BJP leadership decided to allot the deputy mayor's post to the Shiv Sena, after which Sanap withdrew his nomination as instructed. Consequently, Shinde was elected as deputy mayor, and Himgauri Aher of BJP was chosen unopposed for the post of mayor. After the mayoral and deputy mayoral elections, Mahajan praised Sanap for promptly withdrawing his nomination on the party's instructions, adding that the leadership would consider his name in the future. This strengthened Sanap's position as one of the top contenders for the standing committee chairperson's post. The standing committee's nine members from BJP are Sanap, Bolkar, Kulkarni, Nitin Nigal, Pallavi Ganore, Indubai Khetade, Aditi Pande, Sarita Sonawane and Jayashree Gaikwad. The Shiv Sena–MNS group has four members (Mayuri Pawar, Kiran Gamane, Rahul Dive and Ranjana Borade), the Shiv Sena (UBT)–Congress group has two (Bharti Tajanpure and Yogesh Gadekar, while the NCP–Independent group has one representative (Mukesh Shahane).