MUMBAI: BJP suffered a dramatic loss in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi, after its rebel leader Narayan Chaudhary emerged as Mayor with the support of the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
Congress candidate Tariq Momin got elected as deputy mayor of Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation.
The Mayoral race was a three-way fight between Congress' Chaudhary, BJP's Sneha Patil and Vilas Patil from Konark Vikas Aghadi.
Congress candidate Narayan Chaudhary defeated BJP's Sneha Patil by winning 48 votes in the 90-member Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation.
Sneha Patil received 16 votes. Vilas Patil received 25 votes: 12 from Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, six from Samajwadi Party, and the four from Konark Vikas Aghadi.
The BJP district president Ravikant Sawant's decision of choosing Sneha Patil as its mayoral candidate backfired as Chaudhary was also promised the same post. Chaudhary and nine other BJP corporators rebelled and supported the Congress in the mayoral election.
In the Bhiwandi Municipal corporation election, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party with 30 seats; the BJP 22, Shiv Sena 12, NCP SP 12, Samajwadi Party six, Konark Vikas Aghadi four, Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi three, and one Independent was elected.
As per the Congress leader, the Congress (30 seats) and NCP-SP (12 seats) were confident of electing their mayor with the backing of the Samajwadi Party (six seats).
However, due to the internal politics, the Samajwadi Party refused to extend support and instead announced that it would back Shiv Sena.
In response, the Congress and NCP formed a Secular Front to gather the numbers needed for the mayor’s position. The situation changed dramatically when nine BJP corporators, led by Narayan Chaudhari, decided to break away and support the Congress-NCP-SP alliance.