Sena candidate wins KDMC mayoral elections

The election process was carried out by Mumbai Suburban District collector Shivaji Jondhale.

Shiv Sena’s Vinita Rane, 53, was elected the new mayor of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) on Wednesday.

Mayor Vinita Vishwanath Rane in Kalyan (HT Photo)

She was elected unopposed as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Upeksha Bhoir, 27, withdrew the nomination.

For the first time in 13 years, the KDMC elected a mayor from Dombivli.

BJP’s Upeksha Bhoir was elected as the deputy mayor of the civic body on Wednesday in a special general body meeting called for the mayoral elections.

Independent corporator Kasif Tanki had also filed the nominations for deputy mayor’s post but withdrew his nomination.

The election process was carried out by Mumbai Suburban District collector Shivaji Jondhale and deputy collector Aparna Somani.

Rajendra Devlekar of the Shiv Sena resigned after his two-and-a-half-year stint.

Rane after winning the mayoral post said, “I will work for the development of the city phase by phase. I have the knowledge of the basic problems in the city and I will try to fix them during my tenure.”

Wife of Shiv Sena leader Vishwantha Rane, the new mayor is a first-time corportaor.

According to the power-sharing agreement between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party after the 2014 civic elections, the former decided to hold the mayor’s post for the first four years and the latter for the remainder period. It was also agreed that the deputy mayoral post will go to the BJP for the first four years and the Sena for the last one year.