Guardian Minister sidelined: Shinde Sena chief picks Janjal for deputy mayor post

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde has issued orders nominating Rajendra Janjal for the deputy mayor election. However, district guardian minister Sanjay Shirsat was kept in the dark during the decision-making process, leaving him upset. In response, he convened a meeting of nine corporators from his group at his residence. Besides, he also stayed away from the press conference organised at the BJP office.

As per the alliance, BJP decided to keep the mayor’s post while allotting the deputy mayor’s post to the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction). The Shinde Sena won 13 seats in the civic elections. However, the newly elected corporators got divided into two factions. Nine corporators belong to the group led by guardian minister, while four corporators were aligned with MLA Pradeep Jaiswal and district president Rajendra Janjal. Shirsat wanted the deputy mayor’s post to be given to former mayor Tryambak Tupe from his group and had made efforts in that direction.

However, party chief Eknath Shinde approved Janjal’s name. By finalising Janjal’s name, Shinde effectively dealt a setback to the guardian minister.

Party joint contact chief Vilas Parkar arrived in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar early in the morning with the appointment letter for Janjal and handed it over to BJP city president Kishor Shitole.

Angered by being kept uninformed and by the appointment of his intra-party rival Janjal, guardian minister convened a meeting of nine corporators at his bungalow. A press conference had been organised at the BJP office to announce the names of the candidates for mayor and deputy mayor, but Shirsat and his group of corporators boycotted it. From the Shiv Sena side, only MLA Pradeep Jaiswal, contact chief Parkar, Rajendra Janjal and corporators from his faction were present.

The guardian minister said, “The newly elected corporators had come to us. A meeting was held to address their grievances, and they were instructed to follow the party’s orders. The election for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor will be held on February 10. As it was only a matter of filing nomination papers, I did not attend the press conference.”