BJP’s Shrinath Bhimale likely to chair PMC standing committee

With BJP nominating Shrinath Bhimale to PMC standing committee, he is expected to become its chairman

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday constituted its standing committee, city improvement committee, women and child development committee, and appointed members from various parties in proportion to their strength in the panels.

With BJP nominating Shrinath Bhimale to PMC standing committee, he is expected to become its chairman. (HT FILE)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), holding 119 seats in PMC, has 12 representatives in each 16-member standing committee panel, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has three and the Indian National Congress has one.

Many corporators expressed willingness to be part of the standing committee, which is tasked with preparing the PMC annual budget.

The BJP’s nominees for the standing committee are Shrinath Bhimale, Rupali Dhadve, Kalinda Punde, Jayashree Bhumkar, Vishal Dhanwade, Prachi Alhat, Dada Kodre, Mayuri Kokate, Vrushali Kamathe, Sandeep Beldare, and Ratnamala Satav. NCP representatives include Amol Balwadkar, former mayor Vaishali Bankar, and Suhas Tingre, while Congress chose Prashant Jagtap, a newly joined member.

With Bhimale being nominated to the standing committee, he is expected to become its chairman. Earlier, Bhimale and Bidkar were contenders for the mayoral post; however, as the position was reserved for a woman from the general category, BJP appointed Bidkar as the leader of the house, leaving Bhimale poised to head the standing committee.

The municipal secretary’s office has published the complete list of committee members. The newly formed standing committee will now immediately begin preparing the PMC annual budget for 2026–27.