PUNE: With the posts of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad mayors coming under the general category, there is a keen race on among NCP aspirants for the coveted offices. The name of senior corporator Anil Bhosale is already being circulated for the Pune mayorship.

There seems to be an air of optimism among the open category corporators in both the civic bodies as the next mayors could be elected from among them.

Open category corporators are those who have been elected from civic wards not reserved for either the scheduled caste or other backward classes. However, this does not prevent reserved category corporators from contesting the mayoral elections.

Among the leading contenders for the Pune mayorship are leader of the house Anil Bhosale and corporators Subhash Jagtap, Mohansingh Rajpal, Dilip Barate and Shrikant Patil. Outgoing mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale has also expressed interest in a possible second term.

The possibilities of Anil Bhosale bagging the post however are high because he was not given the ticket to contest the recently held assembly elections. Bhosale was a aspirant from the Shivajinagar ward, but could not contest as the constituency went to the Congress party. As a consolation, Bhosale is likely to be awarded the mayor’s post.

Pune city has seen only one male mayor since 1996-97. Since then, the post was reserved for women — either from the open category or backward or scheduled caste categories — except once.

The mayoral chair in Pune was occupied by women mayors like Kamal Vyavhare, Vandana Chavan, Vatsala Andekar, Dipti Chaudhari, Rajni Tribhuvan and Rajlaxmi Bhosale. The only male mayor during the period was Datta Gaikwad (1999-2002).
In PCMC, the NCP, with a clear majority among the 105-member general body, will elected the next mayor from among its corporators. Also, the new mayor is most likely to be selected among men corporators, as the post has been held by three women mayors in the last three consecutive terms since 2005.

A keen tussle is in the offing for the post as the NCP unit in Pimpri-Chinchwad has various factions which are loyal to the newly elected MLAs Vilas Lande and Laxman Jagtap, besides city unit NCP president Azam Pansare.

Both Lande and Pansare had rebelled against the NCP’s official candidates in the recently held Assembly elections. Both MLAs who have since returned to the NCP will play a significant role in deciding the next mayor. However, the final candidate would be decided by NCP leader and state minister for power and water resources Ajit Pawar.

Some of the prominent aspirants for the post include Prashant Shitole, Ganesh Bhondwe, Sharad Borhade, Ajit Gavhane, Yogesh Behl, Mahesh Landge, and Datta Sane. Incidentally, Behl is the top contender for the post as he has been corporator for four terms. However, Behl is likely to face opposition from the Lande faction. Shitole and Bhondwe belong to the Jagtap faction, while Borhade, Gavhane and Sane belong to the Lande faction.

The tenure of the present Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor, Aparna Doke, ends this month. The election of the new mayor is likely to be held in the first week of December.

In February 2005, the post of Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor was reserved for women corporators elected from the open category. NCP corporator Mangala Kadam was then elected to the post. In 2007, the post was reserved for women OBC (other backward class) corporators. Vaishali Ghodekar was then elected to the post. Later Aparna Doke was elected to the post.