NCP’s Bankar is mayor, Congress man Mankar is her deputy

As expected, NCP corporator Vaishali Bankar was elected mayor of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the first meeting of the general body, with the NCP and Congress forging a post-poll alliance. The Congress also managed to get its official candidate Deepak Mankar elected as deputy mayor after ensuring that Mukari Algude who had entered the fray as a rebel, withdrew. Bankar, who received 82 votes, defeated BJP corporator Varsha Tapkir who got 41 votes.

The NCP and Congress has joined hands to get power in the PMC unlike immediately after the 2007 polls when the NCP had tied up with the Shiv Sena-BJP to claim the PMC reins.

The post-poll alliance of NCP and Congress ensured a straight contest between the NCP-Congress combine candidates and saffron alliance candidates for the mayoral polls. The MNS had not fielded any candidate for the mayor or deputy mayor posts.

In a House of 152, Bankar got 82 votes. NCP has 51 members and the Congress 28 members in the House making it 79 members together. Two RPI members and an Independent member's votes took Bankar votes to 82. BJP corporator Varsha Tapkir got 41 votes of the saffron combine. The BJP has 26 members and Sena 15 members in the house. MNS, the second largest party in PMC with 29 corporators, had abstained from voting.

Mankar defeated Shiv Sena deputy mayoral candidate Vijay Deshmukh. The MNS is now hoping for the post of leader of Opposition.

Have done nothing wrong: Mankar

Newly elected deputy mayor Deepak Mankar has been in controversy after allegations against him in a land-grab case in which he was later acquitted. During the period, he was suspended from the Congress and had contested the 2009 assembly elections as an Independent candidate. He is known to be a loyalist of Suresh Kalmadi. "I have been in politics for the last 28 years. I don't think I have done any wrong in public life. I would continue to work for the common public. The first thing on my agenda would be to bring the Shiv Srishti, a memorial Maratha warrior king Shivaji, at Kothrud," said Mankar.

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