Over 60% corporators in PMC’s new general body in 31-50 age group

Pune: Of the 165 newly elected corporators to the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) general body, 54 are in the 41-50 age group and 51 belong to the 31-40 bracket. Put together, corporators from the ‘middle age' group (31-50 years) constitue more than 60%.Sources from the political circle said it would be interesting to see how many corporators from these two groups would be given key posts like mayor, deputy mayor, and representation in standing committee, city improvement committee and law committee.The age was mentioned in the affidavits filed along with the nomination papers for the Jan 15 election. Eight corporators are below 30 years, while those above 60 are 10. BJP's Ranjana Tilekar (70), who was re-elected from the Kondhwa Budruk-Yewalewadi ward, is the ‘senior-most' corporator. Tilekar said she is "very much active" and age will not hamper the work she plans to take up for the residents of her ward. In contrast, Saee Thopte and Siddhi Shilimkar, both from BJP and aged 22, are the ‘youngest'. They won their election on their maiden contest from the Sahakanagar-Padmavati and Mukundnagar-Salisbury Park wards, respectively.Data also revealed that NCP and Congress corporators are from all age groups. For instance, NCP's Baburao Chandere (65) won from the Sus-Baner-Balewadi ward, while Congress's Avinash Raj Salwe (63) emerged victorious in the Yerawada-Gandhinagar ward. Chandere said he already started meeting people from his ward.BJP got the clear majority, with 119 corporators. NCP won 27 seats, followed by Congress with 15 seats. NCP (SP) has three corporators, including the party's senior member, Kaka Chavan. Shiv Sena could not open its account while Shiv Sena (UBT) settled on one seat.A functionary from BJP said the party attempted to strike a balance while deciding the candidates for the PMC poll. "Besides veterans, our party also gave tickets to young and middle-aged candidates. A number of candidates have won the poll for the first time. It is a good opportunity for young or first-time corporators." As many as 1,155 candidates were in the fray for 165 seats from 41 wards of PMC. The election was conducted after a gap of nine years. The civic administration is likely to hold a training session for the corporators in the next few days to provide them with basic information about the functioning, the administrative procedures and other technical processes pertaining to the general body. Details will be declared soon, officials from PMC said.