Mumbai: Shiv Sena heaved a sigh of relief after its ally Congress nominee Meena Shelke defeated Shiv Sena rebel Devayani Dongaonkar in the ZP President election. However, Shiv Sena candidate Shubhangi Kajwe lost to BJP nominee LG Gaikwad in the ZP vice president election. Sattar's six supporters have reportedly cast their votes in favor of BJP nominee. Gaikwad polled 32 votes against 28 by Kajwe.
Shelke and Dongaonkar, who is the former ZP President, had won 30 votes each in the polling held on Friday. Dongaonkar staged a rebellion and contested as an independent on BJP's support. However, the presiding officer on Saturday resorted to draw system in which Shelke was declared winner.
The BJP is the largest party in the 61-member ZP with 23 members, followed by Shiv Sena (17), Congress (16), NCP (3) and a member each of Democratic Republican Party and MNS.
Even though Shiv Sena bosses pacified the sulking minister of state Abdul Sattar, the former MP Chandrakant Khaire has attacked Sattar for joining hands with BJP in the Aurangabad Zilla Parishad election for the posts of president and vice president.
Khaire, who lost to MIM nominee Imtiaz Jaleel in Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat, termed Sattar a traitor and said he should be thrown out of the party for anti-party activity. Khaire appealed to the party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray not to forgive Sattar for his actions against the party.
NCP wins Beed, BJP wins Chandrapur
Meanwhile, former BJP minister Pankaja Munde received a major setback as NCP won the president and vice president posts in Beed Zilla Parishad. Munde's cousin and NCP minister Dhananjay Munde has emerged as an architect of party's victory. Munde had defeated Pankaja Munde by a margin of over 30,000 votes in the assembly election in Parali constituency.
BJP nominee Shivkanya Shirsat won ZP President post and NCP's Beed district president Bajrang Sonawane bagged ZP VP's post. BJP nominees got 32 votes against 21 by BJP. Five members were disqualified. The poll results will be formally announced on January 31 in view of the high court ruling.
Pankaja Munde tweeted that as a formality the party had fought today's election. '' Shiv Sena's Beed district unit expressed its inability to join hands with BJP in view of the Maha Vikas Aghadi at the state level. Therefore, BJP contested as a democratic process,'' she noted.
On his part, Dhananjay Munde said today's victory will help expedite the development of Beed district.
In a related development, BJP won the Chandrapur ZP president and vice president posts. BJP nominee Sandhya Gurnale defeated Congress candidate Vaishali Sherki. Gurnale polled 36 votes against 20 by Sherki. BJP nominee Rekha Karekar defeated Congress candidate Khemraj Maraskolhe in the vice president's election.
