Malegaon: The Malegaon Municipal Corporation has finally come under the rule of the Islam Party and the Samajwadi Party, which together formed the ruling alliance. In the mayoral election, Islam Party candidate Sheikh Nasreen Bano emerged victorious, defeating Shiv Sena’s candidate Lata Ghodke by 25 votes. The post of Deputy Mayor was won by Shan-e-Hind from the Samajwadi Party.
The election process for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts of the 84-member Malegaon Municipal Corporation was held on Saturday. The election was conducted under the chairmanship of District Collector and Presiding Officer Ayush Prasad, in the presence of Municipal Commissioner Ravindra Jadhav.
In this election, both BJP and AIMIM chose to remain neutral, which led to a split in opposition votes and directly impacted Shiv Sena.
For the Mayor’s post, there was a direct contest between Sheikh Nasreen Bano (Islam Party) and Lata Ghodke (Shiv Sena).
Sheikh Nasreen Bano received 43 votes.
Lata Ghodke received 18 votes.
Thus, Ghodke was defeated by a margin of 25 votes.
The 43 votes in favour of Nasreen Bano came from:
Islam Party – 35 councillors
Samajwadi Party – 5 councillors
Congress – 3 councillors
A total of 5 nomination forms were filed by 3 candidates for the Mayor’s post, but the actual contest remained between Nasreen Bano and Lata Ghodke.
As soon as the official victory was announced, councillors of the Secular Front celebrated in the municipal hall by throwing gulal (coloured powder), raising slogans, and holding a large celebration.
