The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has selected Manjusha Nagpure as its mayoral candidate for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), while Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Parshuram Wadekar has filed his nomination for the post of deputy mayor. As the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided not to field any candidate, Nagpure and Wadekar will be elected unopposed.
Nagpure was elected unopposed from Ward No. 35 (Suncity-Manikbaug), while Wadekar won from Ward No. 8A (Aundh-Bopodi) by defeating NCP candidate Vinod Ranpise with a margin of 8,747 votes.
Nagpure is known for her staunch Hindutva ideology and as a loyal BJP worker. She has considerable experience in municipal work and has served on important committees, including the Standing Committee. The names of Ranjana Tilekar, Varsha Tapkir, and Mansi Deshpande were also being discussed for the mayoral post.
As per the draw, the post of mayor was reserved for a woman corporator elected from the general category.
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.
Meanwhile, the BJP has already announced its leader in the PMC. Ganesh Bidkar, who contested the PMC elections from Ward No. 24D (Kasba Peth-Kamala Nehru Hospital-KEM Hospital), has been appointed group leader, BJP state chief Ravindra Chavan stated in a letter to PMC Commissioner Naval Kishor Ram. Bidkar, a former mayor of Pune, defeated Pranav Dhangekar, son of Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Dhangekar, by a margin of 9,248 votes in the polls.
Congress, NCP and NCP-SP have also announced their leaders in the civic body. Congress chose Ramchandra Kadam as its leader, NCP declared Nilesh Nikam, while NCP-SP named Sopan Chavan.
