Two women elected mayor, dy mayor in Malegaon

Nashik: The newly-formed ISLAM Party got its mayor in Malegaon in its maiden contest of civic polls and its alliance partner Samajwadi Party got the deputy post. The AIMIM, which had offered support to the ISLAM party after the civic poll results were announced, abstained from the voting for the mayoral post.Shaikh Nasrin Bano, daughter-in-law of late MLA Rasheed Shaikh, was elected comfortably with 43 votes. Lata Ghodke from Shiv Sena was contesting against her. SP's Shan-e-Hind got the same number of votes to defeat Sena's Nilesh Kakde.Nashik district collector Ayush Prasad presided over the election. The ISLAM Party, formed by former MLA Asif Shaikh, had won 35 seats and SP got 5 seats. They were three short of majority in the 84-member house. On Saturday, they got three votes from the Congress. Their bid became easier after the AIMIM with 21 seats and BJP with 2 seats abstained from the election process. The candidates then needed 31 votes each, making it easy for the ISLAM-SP alliance. After her win, Shaikh Nasrin Bano promised to deliver the best services to Malegaon residents. "In our very first general body meeting, we will call for in-depth investigation into the process of issuing delayed birth and death certificates. During the rule of the administrator, allegations were made that the corporation provided ‘fake' death and birth certificates. Many men and women were jailed and harassed," she said.She added that the investigation report will be presented to the state govt.Dy mayor Shan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed said she was proud that Malegaon had got two women politicians to held the two important posts in the civic body. "For the first time, two women from the minority community were elected as mayor and deputy mayor. We will always strive for the development of the city and move to cut down any discrimination between the East and West parts of the city."Former MLA Asif Shaikh, who heads ISLAM Party, said, "The Special Intensive Revision, that is likely to be done soon by the Election Commission, aims to delete the names of Malegaon residents, claiming them to be Bangladeshi nationals or even Rohingyas. We will provide all help to Malegaon residents," said Shaikh.