Mumbai: Shiv Sena candidate Shraddha Jadhav was elected the new mayor of Mumbai, sending out positive waves in the Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party that had faced humiliating setbacks in the parliamentary and assembly elections.
Members of both parties celebrated enthusiastically outside the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters where 224 elected members or corporators voted amidst a battle for the prestigious post that does not hold much power.
Jadhav, who bagged 114 votes, defeated Congress candidate Priscilla Kadam by 19 votes and will take over from Shubha Raul — both candidates chosen by the Sena leadership.
Sena chief Bal Thackeray himself took interest in the mayoral elections so that this post remained with the Sena which has held it for the past 10 years.
Fears
Sena's fears over its rival party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) supporting the Congress were allayed as both the MNS (six members) and Samajwadi Party (seven) abstained from voting, dashing Congress-Nationalist Congress Party's hopes of a victory.
The Sena (86) and BJP (29) alliance, holding a thin majority of 115 compared with the combined opposition of 109 in the BMC, went out of its way to ensure all the corporators were present for the elections.
With the Sena winning a mere four seats and the BJP five in the recent assembly elections, the mayor will be the face of the saffron combine in Mumbai for the next two and a half years — the tenure of a mayor.
Politically, it will help in not writing off the leadership capability of Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray.
Jadhav is a veteran politician who got elected a corporator from Parel as an Independent candidate after she completed shegraduated in 1992. After joining the Sena, she was elected corporator thrice.
