Chandrapur civic body: Tussle in Cong sorted out ahead of mayoral elections, says Wadettiwar

Chandrapur/Nagpur, Feb 5 (PTI) Congress factions led by senior leader Vijay Wadettiwar and MP Pratibha Dhanorkar have reached a consensus over the post of mayor and deputy mayor in Chandrapur after the January 15 civic polls threw up a fractured verdict.

While the Congress won 27 seats in the 66-member Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, the BJP came second with 23 seats, prompting a race between the two parties to cobble up a coalition to get the coveted civic posts. Mayoral elections will be held on February 10.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Wadettiwar said there is no dispute in the party at present.

"Rajesh Adur has been elected as Congress group leader as per the direction of state and central leadership, while the mayoral candidate will be decided on the suggestion of MP Dhanorkar. No one from my side has filed nominations for mayor. The four women who have filed from the Congress are from Dhanorkar's side," he said.

He said Vasantrao Deshmukh has filed nomination for deputy mayor's post, adding that the entire process following civic polls was being carried out under the supervision of Congress' Vidarbha in charge and Madhya Pradesh MLA Krunal Chaudhary.

There is no issue of dispute or confusion left in selection of mayor and deputy mayor post, Wadettiwar said.

Asked about the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Janvikas Sena Party candidates filing nomination papers for the two posts, he said, "The Congress is discussing with them. Everything will be sorted out and these parties will support us. The Congress has 27 corporators, and has support of three from the Janvikas Sena Party as well as BSP. In all, we currently have 32 corporators," he said.

Meanwhile, Chaudhary expressed confidence that the mayor and deputy mayor of Chandrapur Municipal Corporation will be from the Congress.

In the January 15 polls, the Shiv Sena (UBT) got six seats, Janvikas Sena Party three, VBA two, one each for AIMIM, BSP and Shiv Sena and two were won by independents.

Corporators of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP have filed nomination forms for the February 10 election to the post of the mayor of Chandrapur Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra.

A total of 10 forms were filed for the mayor's post and six for the deputy mayor's post as of Thursday noon.

Manasvi Sandeep Girhe of Shiv Sena (UBT), Sangeeta Mangal Bhoyar, Sangeeta Gopalakrishna Amritkar, Sunanda Dilip Dhobe, and Vaishali Ajay Mahadule of the Congress, and Sangeeta Rajendra Khandekar and Sarika Sachin Sandurkar of the BJP filed their nominations.

A special meeting for the election will be held on February 10 under Collector Vinay Gowda. PTI CLS COR BNM