BJP to appoint women chairs to 12 all panels

Nagpur: In a politically significant and symbolic move, the BJP, after electing women leaders Neeta Thakre as mayor and Leela Hathibed as deputy mayor, has decided to appoint women to head all committees — including the powerful standing committee and transport committee — of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).Addressing a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the special general body meeting at Suresh Bhat Auditorium, BJP city president Dayashankar Tiwari on Monday declared that all subject committees would be headed by women corporators. Significantly, neither mayor Neeta Thakre nor ruling party leader Narendra Borkar was present during the media briefing, triggering fresh political chatter within civic circles.
In the 151-member House, the BJP secured power for the fourth consecutive term with 102 corporators. Of the total House strength, 78 women corporators were elected — 76 from reserved seats and 2 from general category seats — giving the party both numerical strength and flexibility to implement the decision.The most striking announcement concerns the 16-member standing committee, the financial nerve centre of the corporation. Of these 16 seats, 11 will go to BJP — and all 11 members will be women. Tiwari further clarified that not only will the standing committee comprise women members from the BJP quota, but the chairperson too will be a woman. The same formula will apply to the transport committee and the remaining 10 subject committees."All chairpersons will be women. The names will be finalised in the House," Tiwari said, declining to reveal specifics ahead of the meeting. He added that once the standing and transport committee members are approved, the names will be forwarded to the state govt for notification, after which formal elections for chairpersons will take place.The announcement comes amid speculation that internal disagreements within the party delayed committee appointments for nearly a month after the mayoral elections. Tuesday's declaration effectively ends that speculation while sending a strong political message of women-led governance.The BJP also indicated that upcoming zonal chairperson posts will similarly be reserved for women. With the party's dominance across wards, it is expected to secure chairperson positions in at least 9 of the 10 zones — further consolidating what leaders describe as "complete control" of the civic body in women's hands.However, the sweeping decision reportedly upset several aspiring male corporators whose ambitions for key committee positions were sidelined. Politically, the move positions Nagpur as a rare example of a major municipal corporation where women will head every critical committee. Whether it translates into administrative efficiency or remains largely symbolic will be closely watched in the months ahead.