Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday saw Congress and NCP withdraw from the race, paving the way for three-time BJP corporator Manjusha Nagpure and RPI corporator Parshuram Wadekar to be elected unopposed to the post of mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, during a special general body meeting.“Elected members should conduct the mayoral election unopposed to pay homage to former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and former city MP Suresh Kalmadi,” said BJP politician and leader of the house Ganesh Bidkar at the beginning of the general body meeting. Bidkar urged the opposition parties to withdraw from the contest and the demand was accepted. The opposition said it was their tribute to Ajit Pawar and Kalmadi. “The post of mayor and deputy mayor is neutral. They should serve equal justice to all parties, including the opposition, although the BJP has maximum seats and a clear majority,” said leaders of opposition parties after the posts were declared.The BJP had announced Nagpure and Wadekar’s candidatures last week. The NCP and Congress pitted Sheetal Sawant and Ashwini Landge, respectively, against Nagpure. NCP’s Datta Bahirat and Congress’s Sahil Kedari were in contention for the post of deputy mayor. On Monday, Sawant and Landge withdrew, while Bahirat and Kedari also decided to not contest.Nagpure has worked in the IT industry and left the job to enter politics. She won her first two elections in 2012 and 2017 from the Sinhagad Road area. She was elected for the third time in a row in the 2026 civic polls from the Suncity-Manikbaug ward. She won unopposed. Nagpure is married to Deepak Nagpure, a right-wing leader and an office-bearer of the BJP, and is closely associated with the RSS.A leader of the Republican Party of India (RPI A), Wadekar was elected to the PMC for the first time in the recent civic polls from the Bopodi area. He was active in the party and on social platforms for the last two decades. His wife, Sunita Wadekar, is a former corporator and served as the deputy mayor in the last tenure.The BJP has a two-thirds majority in the PMC and was expected to win both seats comfortably. The party has 119 corporators, while the NCP has 27, Congress 15, NCP (SP) 3 and Shiv Sena (UBT) 1.The PMC gets a mayor and a deputy mayor after a gap of four years, ending the administrative rule. The tenure of the previous mayor had concluded in Feb 2022. The new mayor was supposed to take charge shortly thereafter, but the post remained vacant since there were no civic elections for four years.The reservations for the mayor’s post were declared last month. Pune, Nashik and Mumbai, along with six other municipal corporations in the state, have a woman mayor from the general category.**Box:**Opposition to take firm stand against decisions not favouring citizensIn the first general body meeting of PMC on Monday, leaders from opposition parties said they would support all measures for the city’s development, but would take a firm stand against decisions not in favour of citizens. Leader of the NCP in the PMC Nilesh Nikam said his party has always supported action benefitting people. “We expect the BJP to work for residents, resolve their issues and handle all challenges faced by the city. We will not tolerate anything hampering the city’s progress and residents’ rights,” Nikam said. PMC’s Congress leader Ramchandra Kadam said they would not entertain any ill practices.# BOX #Resolving city’s issues priority: NagpureWhile addressing the maiden general body meeting, mayor Manjusha Nagpure said that resolving city’s issues is a priority. “Corporators must work towards civic issues like transportation, safety of citizens and environment-related problems. The city would continue to get bigger projects and PMC will contribute actively for its execution,” she said.BOx:BJP corporator Raghvendra Mankar refuses monthly honorarium, allowancesBJP corporator Raghvendra Mankar, who won the civic polls from the Shaniwar Peth-Mahatma Phule Mandai ward, has decided to not accept the monthly honorarium and other allowances entitled to him. On Monday, he gave the municipal secretary a letter which said his honorarium should be added to the mayor’s fund. “I will utilise the amount to provide treatment assistance to needy patients,” he added.
