BJP’s Khedkar is Akola mayor, Goge deputy

Akola: The BJP retained control of Akola Municipal Corporation on Friday after its candidates Sharada Khedkar was elected mayor and Amol Goge as deputy mayor, amid high political drama and heated exchanges inside the civic body.Khedkar, a corporator from Ward 15, defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Surekha Kale by 45 votes to 32 in the mayoral election. The BJP nominee got support from the party's 38 corporators, three NCP(SP) corporators, one corporator each from NCP(Ajit), Shiv Sena (Shinde) and two Independents.Significantly, Ashish Pavitrakar, a rebel BJP-backed Independent corporator who was aligned with the Congress-led front, extended last-minute support to BJP, altering the political arithmetic in the House.The Akola Municipal Corporation has a total strength of 80 members, with 41 being the majority mark. Despite falling short of majority on its own, the BJP successfully retained control of the civic body with the support of alliance partners and Independent corporators. The result is being seen as a major strategic victory for the BJP in Akola's local political landscape.Soon after the completion of the mayor and deputy mayor elections, the House witnessed an uproar as Congress and AIMIM corporators engaged in a sharp verbal clash. Congress corporators objected to the decision of three AIMIM corporators to remain neutral during the voting. The situation escalated after a Congress woman corporator allegedly made a symbolic protest by showing bangles to AIMIM corporators, triggering further heated exchanges.The confrontation continued outside the House as well. AIMIM corporators accused the Congress of high-handedness, while Congress corporator Fazlu Pehlwan alleged that AIMIM was acting as "BJP's B-team", claiming that despite seeking votes in the name of minority politics, the party indirectly helped the BJP during the crucial vote. As three AIMIM corporators abstained from supporting either side in the election, the Congress-led front's claim of pulling off a "political miracle" fell flat after the final outcome.The election process was conducted under the supervision of presiding officer Varsha Meena, in the presence of municipal commissioner Dr Sunil Lahane.Speaking after her victory, Khedkar and Goge said that the city's development would be taken forward through consensus rather than numbers.Former mayor Vijay Agrawal, who played a key role in coordinating the support, said the BJP-led "City Improvement Aghadi" received crucial backing from NCP (SP). "Our priority is to work with corporators across parties, beyond caste and religion, and focus on development, cleanliness and beautification of the city. Politics of consensus is more important than politics of numbers," Agrawal said.BOXBJP offered inducements to retain power: Oppn Dhananjay SableAkola: A day after election of Akola mayor and deputy mayor, the Opposition parties — Shiv Sena (UBT), Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Congress — held a joint press conference and levelled serious allegations against the BJP, claiming that the party retained power with the support of seven Muslim corporators. Congress MLA Sajid Khan Pathan alleged that the BJP had secured the support of corporators by offering money and inducements. He claimed that Rs3cr was allegedly paid to seven corporators to ensure a majority, and that Muslim corporators were also among those who were allegedly approached.Pathan further alleged that the BJP had also promised shops in the Janata vegetable market in Akola to those extending support to the ruling side. Pathan alleged that the entire exercise was driven purely by the pursuit of power.Sena (UBT) MLA Nitin Deshmukh also launched a sharp attack on the BJP, saying the party had raised the slogan of "katenge toh batenge" during the election campaign, but had now depended on Muslim corporators to retain power in the civic body.He claimed that the BJP-AIMIM understanding had earlier surfaced in Akot and had now become evident in the Akola Municipal Corporation as well. Opposition leaders said the developments exposed what they termed as the BJP's political double standards, and demanded a thorough probe into the allegations of inducements and political manipulation.