Nagpur: The Second Capital City of Nagpur, fondly called Orange City, is all set to greet a woman Mayor. With a brutal two-thirds majority (108 winners in 151-member NMC) in its kitty, a able nominee of Bharatiya Janata Party is set to wear the Mayoral crown in a glittering ceremony to be held on March 5, 2017 at imposing Town Hall in Mahal. All the 151 winners in the local body election will now be known as City Fathers, also called Corporators, popularly.
A woman Corporator from open category will be the next Mayor. The next Mayor has been decided by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The next five years of this NMC tenure will see two Mayors, each having two and half year tenure.
The front-runners for Mayoral crown are Vishakha Mohod, Chetana Tank, Nanda Jichkar or a surprise could be in store. Mohod is an influential OBC face. Chetana Tank is a senior Corporator and is in line for occupying an important post since years. Nanda Jichkar, chief of BJP Women’s Wing, seems well ahead in the race. Mohod and Jichkar are Corporators from Chief Minister’s constituency and are close to him while Chetana Tank belongs to Gadkari camp. She is a third time Corporator and it would not be any surprise if she is crowned the Mayoral position on experience count.
Like the Mayor post, another vital post is in for a grab – Leader of Ruling Party. Veteran Corporators Sandeep Joshi or Pravin Datke could be holding the post. Name of Dayashankar Tiwari could also be zeroed in.
If the BJP strategy works, the tenure of Deputy Mayor could be drawn out for one and half year or even for one year. In the one and half tenure, there would be three Deputy Mayors. And if one year tenure is worked out, the local body could see five Deputy Mayors.
Similarly, there would be five Chairmen of Standing Committee. Election of Standing Committee chief is slated for March 7. 12 or 13 members of Standing Committee would also be appointed from BJP quota every year. On this count, around 65-70 Corporators would have a chance to be members of all-powerful Standing Committee during the five-year tenure of NMC.
The next few days will also see election of Zone Chairmen. Except Ashinagar Zone, the rest of nine zones will have Chairmen from BJP quota. This tenure of NMC will also see 45 BJP Corporators becoming zone chairmen. Then there will be Chairmen or Chairpersons of various committees such as Health, Fire Brigade, Education, Social Welfare et al.
In this NMC election, 108 candidates of BJP have become Corporators. Moreover, half a dozen other Corporators could extend support to BJP. In all 145 plum posts could see BJP Corporators occupying the chair in one capacity or the other.
Leader of Opposition:
The mantle of Leader of Opposition could fall on Praful Gudadhe Patil who emerged winner from Prabhag 38, part of Chief Minister’s constituency. He is also in the race of City Congress President’s post in the wake of incumbent Vikas Thakre tendering his resignation following party’s debacle in NMc poll. If the resignation is accepted, Praful Gudadhe Patil could be made the City Congress chief. In the event of Patil becoming City Congress chief, then Sandeep Sahare could be made Leader of Opposition in NMC. Apart from these posts, one Corporator of Congress could be nominated as member of Standing Committee and also of various other committees.
– RAJEEV RANJAN KUSHWAHA(rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)
