NCP chief Sharad Pawar made the president of Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar was on Sunday elected as the president of Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya (MMGS), a 123-year-old library which is one of the largest in Mumbai, by an overwhelming majority.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar was on Sunday elected as the president of Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya (MMGS), a 123-year-old library which is one of the largest in Mumbai, by an overwhelming majority.

He defeated his opponent, Dhananjay Shinde, the general secretary of Maharashtra Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by 27 votes. Pawar polled 29 votes compared to 2 votes polled by Shinde. Of the 34 members eligible to vote, 31 turned up for voting. Along with Pawar, his entire panel of seven vice-presidents also won the polls. (PTI)

He defeated his opponent, Dhananjay Shinde, the general secretary of Maharashtra Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by 27 votes. Pawar polled 29 votes compared to 2 votes polled by Shinde. Of the 34 members eligible to vote, 31 turned up for voting. Along with Pawar, his entire panel of seven vice-presidents also won the polls.

Shinde called the election fraudulent and plans to move court. “They manipulated the granthalaya’s constitution by allowing just 34 people to vote. They should have allowed all 6,000 members to exercise their franchise. We will not sit quiet and approach the Court next week seeking to declare this election null and void,” said Shinde.

Former vice-chancellor of Mumbai University Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar, who was elected as the vice-president, said everything was done according to the constitution. “Our opponents had approached the charity commissioner to stay this election, but their plea was dismissed,” said Mungekar. He said the panel will strive to increase the membership of the library.

MMGS has more than 645,569 books in Marathi. The Pawar-led panel has been managing the functioning of the MMGS since 1982. It is the first time in the past four decades that the elections are being held. Earlier, the office-bearers were selected based on mutual consent.