Pune: BJP's Shrinath Bhimale Elected Unopposed As Standing Committee Chairman

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Shrinath Bhimale was on Monday elected unopposed to the post of Standing Committee chairman of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). NCP’s Suhas Tingre was also eyeing the post, but his nomination form was rejected as it was not submitted on time.

Standing Committee Composition:

There are a total of 16 members in the Standing Committee. Out of these, 12 members are from the BJP, two from the NCP, and one from the Congress.

Apart from Bhimale, the other BJP corporators in the Standing Committee include Rupali Dhadve, Kalinda Punde, Jayashree Bhumkar, Vishal Dhanwade, Prachi Alhat, Dada Kodre, Mayuri Kokate, Vrushali Kamathe, Sandeep Beldare, and Ratnamala Satav. The NCP representatives include Amol Balwadkar, Vaishali Bankar, and Suhas Tingre, while the Congress has chosen Prashant Jagtap.

Earlier, BJP leaders Bhimale and Ganesh Bidkar were contenders for the mayoral post. However, the position was reserved for a woman from the general category, so the saffron party chose Manjusha Nagpure. Bidkar was appointed as the Leader of the House, leaving Bhimale to head the Standing Committee.

Bhimale was also in the running for the post of party chief in the city. However, the BJP retained its faith in Dheeraj Ghate, asking him to continue his term. Bhimale was also keen on contesting the 2024 Assembly polls from the Parvati constituency but backed out of the contest after intervention from senior party leaders.

PMC Election Results:

In the PMC elections held on January 15, Congress secured 15 seats, while the BJP emerged as the single-largest party, winning 119 of the 165 seats. Ajit Pawar’s NCP won 27 seats, NCP (SP) won three seats, and Shiv Sena (UBT) won one seat.