Nashik: The election schedule for the Nashik Municipal Corporation's Standing Committee Chairperson post has been announced. The chairperson election will be held on Wednesday, February 25. Nominations will be filed on Monday, February 23. Although there are many contenders from the BJP, the main contest for the candidacy is between Madhuri Bolkar, Machhindra Sanap and Dr Deepali Kulkarni. The process of deciding a single candidate is underway in the party, and it is likely that a single application will be filed. Therefore, the election has a high possibility of going unopposed.
The role of the party leaders, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, and the core committee members will be decisive in selecting the candidature. The budget for 2026-27 will be presented before the standing committee only after the chairperson is elected.
List of Standing Committee Members
Last Monday (February 16), 16 members of the Standing Committee were appointed according to the party's comparative strength. 9 members from BJP: Madhuri Bolkar, Machhindra Sanap, Dr Deepali Kulkarni, Nitin Nigal, Pallavi Ganore, Indubai Khetade, Aditi Pandey, Sarita Sonawane and Jayshree Gaikwad.
Shinde Sena includes Kiran Gamane, Rahul Dive, Ranjana Borade and Mayuri Pawar of MNS, who registered a group with them. Yogesh Gadekar and Bharti Tajanpure are from Uddhav Sena, while Mukesh Shahane, an independent, has been elected from the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar group).
Social Engineering and Possible Decision
There is talk that the BJP is doing social engineering in the municipality, and since the mayor's post is in the open category, the standing committee chairmanship is likely to go to the OBC category. Currently, according to seniority in the party, Dr Deepali Kulkarni, Machhindra Sanap and Madhuri Bolkar are the main contenders. It is expected that if a woman is given the chairmanship, a true women's rule will be created in the municipal corporation.
Since the mayor's post has gone to the Nashik Central assembly constituency, the chairmanship is likely to go to the East or Satpur constituency. There will be an internal discussion and a core committee meeting in the next two days. After that, the candidate will be decided. After the elections, the standing committee will start working at full capacity, and it is expected that the development work of the city will gain momentum.
