* BJP-Sena alliance snaps ties with NCP, attracts new allies in BSP and RPI
By Kartik Lokhande
As
expected, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena alliance retained
Nagpur Zilla Parishad (ZP). In the election held on Sunday, Nisha
Sawarkar, BJP member from Chirwha-Dhanla circle in Mouda tehsil, polled
32 votes and got elected to the post of ZP President. Sharad Donekar,
Shiv Sena member from Kanhan circle in Parseoni tehsil, also polled
equal number of votes and became the new Vice-President.
The
elections to the posts of ZP chief and deputy were held in the shadow of
Legislative Assembly elections scheduled next month. Against this
backdrop, there were speculations if the erstwhile ruling coalition
comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), and
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would continue. In 58-member ZP house,
BJP has 21 members, Congress has 19, Shiv Sena-- eight, NCP-- seven, and
GGP, Republican Party of India (RPI), and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
have one each. The speculations got some more fuel with Shiv Sena
members registering themselves as a separate group. Ahead of Assembly
elections, Congress and NCP wanted to flock together. For the past
couple of days, hectic political activities took place in the district.
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| (From left) Outgoing ZP chief Sandhya Gotmare with her successor Nisha Sawarkar and new Vice-President Sharad Donekar, after announcement of election results. (Photo courtesy: Satish Raut/The Hitavada) |
As
a precautionary measure, BJP flocked together its 21 members and one
member of GGP and one of BSP, and took them to Indore on ‘tour’. BJP
leaders were in touch with Shiv Sena members and lone member of RPI.
Congress and NCP also decided to come together. However, on Sunday, BJP
ensured the tally of 32 with BJP, Shiv Sena, GGP, RPI, BSP coming
together. Congress and NCP stayed together but their tally was still 26.
As a result, BJP candidate Nisha Sawarkar won the post of ZP chief that
was reserved for woman from General category. Sena’s Sharad Donekar
also got elected to the post of Vice-President comfortably.
For the
post of President, BJP fielded Sawarkar at the last moment. Just a
couple of minutes to the deadline of 12 noon on Sunday, BJP Group Leader
in ZP Ukesh Chavan filed the papers of Sawarkar. Congress fielded two
candidates namely Shalu Hatwar and Nanda Narnaware, of which Narnaware
later backed out. There was a straight fight between Sawarkar and
Hatwar, in which Sawarkar defeated the latter by a margin of six votes.
For the post of Vice-President, in straight contest, Sena’s Donekar
defeated NCP’s Ujjwala Bodhare by six votes.
Abhishek Krishna,
District Collector, presided over the election meeting in which members
exercised their franchise by raising their hands. Ajay Ramteke, Deputy
District Election Officer; B N Ubale, Additional Chief Executive Officer
of ZP, and others conducted the proceedings. Abhishek Krishna declared
the results.
Soon after announcement of results, the workers of BJP
and Shiv Sena started bursting crackers, and raised slogans in favour of
‘Mahayuti’. Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Vijay Ghodmare, and Sudhir Parwe,
all BJP MLAs; Krupal Tumane, Shiv Sena MP from Ramtek; Adv Ashish
Jaiswal, Shiv Sena MLA; Dr Rajiv Potdar, District President of BJP;
Ukesh Chavan, BJP Group Leader in ZP; Ashok Mankar, former MLC; Ramesh
Mankar, Shrikant Deshpande, Prem Zade, Ashok Dhote, Arvind Gajbhiye,
Nisha Sawarkar’s husband Tekchand Sawarkar, and others greeted Sawarkar
and Donekar on their victory.
Equations change, say a
disappointed Cong-NCP
Visibly
disappointed, the members of Congress and NCP left ZP premises soon
after declaration of results. Later, they assembled at Hotel Tuli
International. Their reaction to the defeat despite Congress and NCP
coming together was plain, “Equations change.”
Some Congress
members, wishing to remain anonymous, squarely blamed senior leaders
including Dr Nitin Raut, Guardian Minister of district; Rajendra Mulak,
Minister of State for Finance; and Sunil Kedar, MLA, for ‘not’ taking
keen interest in ZP elections.
Manohar Kumbhare, Congress Group
Leader in ZP; Shivkumar Yadav, Dnyaneshwar Kambhale, Nana Gawande;
Bandopant Umarkar, District President of NCP, and others held a
post-election review meeting, but all were disappointed. Talking to
reporters, Gawande said, “Equations change. We did not have enough
numbers.” He added that Congress had a reason to smile as the BJP rebel
Nisha Sawarkar finally became ZP President after contesting
unsuccessfully with Congress’ support last time.
According to
Kumbhare, BJP members were not stable and it had to issue a whip to keep
them together. On RPI’s Deepak Gedam switching sides to BJP-Shiv Sena,
he said that Gedam should ‘introspect’. He also alleged that BJP made
some ‘offers’ to other members.
Umarkar expressed happiness that
finally Congress and NCP came together in ZP after two-and-a-half years.
“Though we could not form the ruling side in ZP, restoring of Congress
and NCP ties is a good sign for Assembly elections ahead,” he added.
Elections of committee
chairpersons on Oct 4
After
the election of ZP President and Vice-President, now all eyes are on
the elections of chairpersons of four committees. BJP-Shiv Sena has
reached out to BSP and RPI this time. BJP has bagged the post of ZP
chief, Sena has got the post of Vice-President. It plans to continue
Durgavati Sariyam of GGP on the post of a committee chief. Of remaining
three posts of committee chiefs, it is learnt that BJP-Sena will offer a
post to lone BSP member Pushpa Waghade. The remaining two posts will be
shared by BJP and Sena each.
Sawarkar admits to past ‘mistake’, vows to work for devpt of distt
Newly
elected ZP chief Nisha Sawarkar could not stop tears from rolling down
her eyes, as if still not believing that she had finally bagged the
coveted post. And, there was a reason too.
Two-and-a-half years ago,
during the election of ZP President, Sawarkar had rebelled and
contested against BJP candidate Sandhya Gotmare. Supported then by
Congress, Sawarkar polled 24 votes and got defeated by Gotmare who
polled 35 votes. Later on, BJP had served notice to Sawarkar for
anti-party activity. However, since then, much appears to have changed.
“It
was a big mistake. I admit to it. I am really grateful to Union
Minister of Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari for forgiving me,” said a
teary-eyed Sawarkar, after she was declared as new ZP President on
Sunday. Greeted by the outgoing ZP chief Sandhya Gotmare, Sawarkar
thanked top BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, BJP MLA Chandrashekhar Bawankule,
Shiv Sena MLA Ashish Jaiswal and all the office-bearers and workers of
BJP and Shiv Sena for supporting her.
BJP made Sawarkar its
candidate at the last moment on Sunday. There was widespread opposition
to Sawarkar’s candidature, and many members expressed displeasure over
her anti-party stand taken previously. The names of Aruna Mankar, wife
of former ZP chief Ramesh Mankar; Shubhangi Gaidhane, considered a close
aide of Bawankule; Kalpana Chahande, were doing rounds. Till Sunday
early morning, Mankar’s name was considered almost final. According to
sources, BJP’s senior office-bearers Dr Upendra Kothekar and Shrikant
Deshpande interviewed the aspirants and conveyed their observations to
Gadkari, who gave a green signal to Nisha Sawarkar’s name considering
the long years given to the party by her husband Tekchand Sawarkar.
Asked
about her priorities after taking over as ZP chief, Sawarkar told
reporters that she would be loyal to the party and the people and work
for overall development of the rural areas of the district. “I shall not
disappoint the people,” she added.
Healthcare to be focus area: Sharad Donekar
Newly
elected Vice-President of ZP Sharad Donekar, a Shiv Sena member from
Kanhan circle in Parseoni tehsil, said that his priority would be
healthcare. He lauded the outgoing Vice-President Chandrashekhar
Chikhale as a ‘dear friend’, and said that he would continue with good
initiatives. “I shall focus on works that could not be completed in
Chikhale’s tenure,” added Donekar.
After ZP, Gotmare wants to contest Assembly polls
The
outgoing President of ZP Sandhya Gotmare said that she was satisfied
with her tenure in ZP and now wanted to contest Legislative Assembly
polls from Hingna constituency.
Talking to reporters, Gotmare said
that she had sought BJP ticket from Hingna constituency. Already, Hingna
constituency is represented by BJP MLA Vijay Ghodmare, who also has his
roots in ZP. When this was pointed out, Gotmare said, “Of course, it
will be for party leadership to decide, but I have sought ticket as I
wished a woman be given a chance this time.”
During her tenure as ZP
chief, Gotmare said that she was instrumental in ensuring that there
was no water scarcity in district. Further, ZP funds blocked in
beleaguered Nagpur District Central Co-operative Bank Limited were
transferred to nationalised bank during her tenure. The biggest
achievement was initiation of process of identifying ZP’s land and
getting it transferred in the name of ZP in Government records.
(21-09-14)
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