Sunil Kedar, former minister; Rajendra Mulak, District President of Congress party; Nana Gawande, Rashmi Barve, ZP President, and others celebrating Congress’ thumping win in Panchayat Samiti elections on Saturday.

 

 

 

Congress party, which holds the sway in Zilla Parishad (ZP), dominated the results of the elections of Chairpersons and Deputy Chairpersons of Panchayat Samitis (PS) declared on Saturday. The party won nine out of 13 posts of PS chiefs, and eight out of 13 posts of deputies. Congress had a clean sweep, winning both the seats of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson in seven PS. Its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had a clean sweep in two PS, and won the seat of Chairperson at one more place. Balasahebanchi Sena (led by Eknath Shinde) won the seat of PS Chairperson in Ramtek. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not win a single seat of PS Chairperson, but it managed to win three seats of Deputy Chairperson. The PS where Congress won both the posts are as follows: Saoner -- Aruna Shinde (Chairperson) and Rahul Tiwari (Deputy Chairperson); Kalmeshwar -- Prabhakar Bhosle and Shravan Bhingare; Parseoni -- Mangala Nimbone and Karuna Bhovate; Kamptee -- Disha Chankapure and Dilip Vanjari; Umred -- Geetanjali Nagbhidkar and Suresh Lende; Bhiwapur -- Madhuri Deshmukh and Rahul Meshram; Nagpur (Rural) -- Rupali Manohar and Avinash Pardhi.

 

Besides, its candidates Vandana Motghare won the post of PS Chairperson in Kuhi, and Swapnil Shravankar in Mouda. NCP secured both the posts of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson in Narkhed PS with its candidates Mahendra Gajbe and Mayatai Modhoriya winning the elections. In Hingna PS, NCP candidates Sushama Kawale and Umeshsingh Rajput bagged the posts respectively. In Hingna, NCP leader Rameshchandra Bang has kept his influence intact. In Katol PS, NCP’s Ajay alias Sanjay Dangore won the post of Chairperson while Congress’ Nishikant Nagmote won that of Deputy Chairperson. Overall, the ruling Congress-NCP combine won 12 posts of PS chief, and 10 posts of Deputy Chairperson. In Ramtek PS, Sanjay Neware of Balasahebanchi Sena (Shinde group) won the post of Chairperson and BJP’s Narendra Bandhate won that of Deputy Chairperson. Both polled five votes each. Whereas, their rivals Congress-Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) candidates Ravindra Kumre and Asmita Biranwar polled four votes each. Congress’ PS member Pinky Rahate remained absent. Had she been present, Congress-GGP candidates would have polled five votes each and the winner would have been decided through draw of lots. BJP won three posts of Deputy Chairpersons namely Narendra Bandhate (Ramtek PS), Khemraj Chafle (Mouda PS), and Istari Talekar (Kuhi). After the declaration of election results, Congress celebrated at the official bungalow of ZP President. Sunil Kedar, former minister; Rajendra Mulak, District President (Rural) of Congress; Rashmi Barve, ZP President; Nana Gawande, Suresh Bhoyar, Kunda Raut celebrated the party’s win.