Outgoing MBMC man seeks re-election with BJP help

Politics make strange bedfellows and the forthcoming elections for the chairman to the coveted standing com- mittee is all set to become a political hotbed to get a grip over the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC). This became evident after, NCP-Congress backed present chairman, Raju Bhoir of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, jumped into the fray, this time on the support lent by two BJP members, who proposed and seconded his nominations.

The move has clearly upset the calculations of the NCP-backed Congress nominee.

Apart from Bhoir, who is the outgoing chairperson of the standing committee, Hansu Kumar Pandey ( Congress) and Sharad Patil (BJP) filed their nomination papers with civic secretary, Haresh Patil, at the main administrative build- ing of the MBMC on Friday afternoon. The 16-member Standing Committee has five BJP members, three members each from the Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP and one each from the BVA and Independent. Interestingly BVA’s Raju Bhoir and Independent member Munna Singh are constituents of the NCP-led ruling alliance.

With the ruling and Opposition camps enjoying an equal strength of eight members, a lucky draw was expected to decide the fate of the standing committee, but with Raju Bhoir’s surprising candidature, the contest has took an interesting turn. Interestingly, despite the fact that their official party candidate is in fray, two BJP members have endorsed Bhoir’s candidature by proposing and seconding his nomination papers indicating of a calculated game plan of backing the BVA nominee.

Elections are scheduled to be held on December 4.