Political circles await standing committee picks

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The special General Body (GB) meeting to elect 16 members of the standing committee will be held on Thursday morning. Attention is focused on which corporators will secure a place on the key panel and whether political parties will honour the assurances made to aspirants who were denied tickets in the corporators’ election.

Mayor Sameer Rajurkar will preside over the meeting in the presence of Deputy Mayor Rajendra Janjal.

The newly constituted civic body has 57 members from BJP, 33 from AIMIM, 13 from Shinde Sena, six from Uddhav Sena, four from Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), and one each from Congress and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). Based on the proportional strength of parties in the house, the 16-member standing committee will include eight BJP members, four from AIMIM, two from Shinde Sena, one from Uddhav Sena, and one representative from the Lokseva Vikas Aghadi (an alliance of VBA and Congress).

Time to Fulfil Promises

The municipal corporation elections were held on January 15, and the results for 115 newly elected corporators were declared on January 16. Subsequently, Sameer Rajurkar was elected mayor and Rajendra Janjal deputy mayor on February 10, 2026.

Since then, aspirants and senior corporators from BJP, Shinde Sena, AIMIM and Uddhav Sena have intensified efforts to secure a berth on the standing committee, lobbying party leaders and influential figures.

As reported earlier, BJP, Shinde Sena and AIMIM witnessed significant discontent among aspirants who were denied tickets in the corporators’ polls. Protests and strong reactions were seen from these disappointed members. To pacify them, party leaders reportedly assured several aspirants of co-opted positions. In BJP and Shinde Sena, those who had hoped to contest the mayoral and deputy mayoral posts were also promised consideration for standing committee nominations.

With the meeting approaching, citizens and political observers alike are keenly watching to see which corporators will make it to the standing committee.

In addition, elections for five subject committees will also be conducted during the special GB meeting on March 5. Each of these committees will consist of nine members.