At 23, he heads civic body
Maharashtra minister and Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik’s nephew Sagar Naik (23) is Navi Mumbai’s mayor. He will be the second mayor of Navi Mumbai city to have taken over the post at such a young age.
Maharashtra minister and Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik’s nephew Sagar Naik (23) is Navi Mumbai’s mayor. He will be the second mayor of Navi Mumbai city to have taken over the post at such a young age.
Sagar is the son of sitting corporator Dnyaneshwar Naik, Ganesh Naik’s younger brother. Ganesh Naik’s elder son, the present MP Sanjeev Naik, was the first mayor of Navi Mumbai in 1995, when he too was 23, for a one-year term.
Sagar had filed his nomination papers on Wednesday and with the Nationalist Congress Party having won a comfortable majority in the recently held civic elections, his election to the post on Sunday was a mere formality. He won the elections with 57 votes. Hindustan Times had reported last month that Sagar was all set to occupy the chair.
Dressed in a suit, he was cheered by party workers at the NMMC headquarters in Belapur. “I am thankful to the people of Navi Mumbai for giving me a chance and I will work for the development of the city,” Naik said during the victory rally. The NCP said they had fielded a young candidate for young city.
Sagar Nair further added that de would take up works on a priority basis and assess what are the needs of the city and make proposals accordingly. He said he would love to create scope for the youth in every sector and work towards it. Asked about priorities, he said he would work on finishing all the pending civic works first. Asked how he will handle the civic house as he did not have any experience, he said he will take guidance from seniors in the party.
“Sagar will have the guidance of Ganesh Naik and the people of Navi Mumbai who have given a very clear verdict in Naik’s favour. There is no stopping Navi Mumbai from progressing at a great pace now,” Bharat Nakhate, deputy mayor said.
He was elected unopposed in the civic elections from Khairane ward of Kopar Khairane, a traditional Naik bastion.
The ward was earlier represented by Ganesh Naik’s younger son Sandeep who is now an MLA.
Vashi corporator Nakhate had filed his nomination papers for the deputy mayor’s post along with Sagar.
From the Shiv Sena, Airoli corporator Jagdish Gavte and Satish Ramane of Nerul had filed their papers for the post of mayor and deputy mayor. There were no nominations from the Congress.