The Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar was elected the mayor of Mumbai on Wednesday with 171 votes. He had the Bharatiya Janata Party’s full support as 218 of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s 227 corporators cast their votes, ANI reported.
In the civic elections conducted last month, the Shiv Sena had won 84 seats, while the BJP had come in a close second with 81. On March 4, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said the party will not contest for the mayor’s post. “We will support the ruling party, but will not compromise on transparency,” Fadnavis had said. The Congress, which had bagged 31 seats, had nominated Vitthal Lokare for the position.
Mahadeshwar won with a majority when incumbent Mumbai Mayor Snehal Ambekar conducted a show of hands at the BMC hall. As many as 16 corporators did not participate in the show of hands, while eight others were absent from the voting, Hindustan Times reported. One corporator was not present inside the hall during the time of vote.
After winning the election, Mahadeshwar said he will conduct a coordination committee meeting between the state government and the BMC soon after taking over, reported The Indian Express. The Sena member is already facing legal trouble as Congress leader Dharmesh Vyas has filed a petition in court challenging his election.
Vyas has alleged that as the principal of a government-aided school, Mahadeshwar had hid the fact that he was drawing a salary from government grants, reported News18. This made him ineligible to become a corporator, the Congress leader claimed.
Mahadeshwar is also facing allegations of having purchased a flat “by flouting the rules”. The case was filed by an independent candidate, Mahendra Pawar, and the hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 23, according to News18.
The BMC elections had turned into a bitter fight between the BJP and Shiv Sena, who had ended their alliance before the polls. The two sides, which have traded corruption accusations, fought the civic polls separately for the first time in two decades.
The BMC is India’s richest civic body with an annual budget of over Rs 37,000 crore.
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