Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is committed to the overall development of the city and will appoint an able candidate as mayor after a meeting to be held in Mumbai, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said at a press conference here on Sunday. He said senior and old party workers would be given preference for the post.
Bawankule was in the city to campaign for candidates in the zilla parishad elections. Non-Conventional Energy Minister Atul Save, MLA Anuradha Chavan, MLC Sanjay Kenekar, city district president Kishor Shitole, district president Suhas Shirsat, Sanjay Khambayate, Anil Makariya, Basavraj Mangrule, Kiran Patil, Harshvardhan Karad, Ujjawala Dahiphale and other leaders were present at the press meet.
Speaking on the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections, Bawankule said that although the BJP has an alliance with the Shiv Sena, the ally had not honoured the understanding in some places. “This will be discussed after the elections. Where there is no alliance, we will contest independently, and where there is an alliance, we will work with honesty. We will not criticise our allies or even our opponents because we are contesting the issue of development,” he said.
He added that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has decided to stay away from campaigning following the sad demise of Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister.
On the mayoral candidate, Bawankule said a meeting would be held in Mumbai in the presence of Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan, after which a decision would be taken. He said the names of senior party workers, including Mahesh Walwatkar, Sameer Rajurkar, Anil Makariya, Shivaji Dandge, Vijay Autade and Rajgaurav Wankhede, were under consideration.
