Sena (UBT) corporator Syed Iqbal elected Parbhani Mayor with Cong support; BJP slams his candidature

While the BJP hit out at Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray for taking forward the agenda of Aurangzeb by fielding a Muslim candidate, the Congress said it supported the Sena UBT in the mayoral elections to keep the BJP away from power and to follow the alliance principles.

Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Syed Iqbal was on Thursday elected the new Mayor of Parbhani city in central Maharashtra with Congress support, defeating his BJP rival Tirumala Khillare by a comfortable margin of 13 votes. Iqbal, whose party fought the Parbhani City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) polls last month in alliance with the Congress, secured 39 votes to become the fifth Mayor, while BJP corporator Khillare received 26, an official said. Congress corporator Ganesh Deshmukh was elected the Deputy Mayor of Parbhani. While the BJP hit out at Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for ''taking forward the agenda of Aurangzeb'' by fielding a Muslim candidate, the Congress said it supported the Sena (UBT) in the mayoral elections to keep the BJP away from power and to follow the alliance principles. The Congress also hit out at the Sena (UBT) for not supporting it in Chandrapur mayoral polls held on Tuesday. After Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators joined hands with the BJP in Chandrapur Mayoral poll on Tuesday, all eyes were on the poll in Parbhani, but there was no last minute twist in the central Maharashtra city. The Congress emerged the single largest party in the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, but failed to install its Mayor due a post-poll tie-up between rivals Shiv Sena (UBT) and the BJP. The Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) had a pre-poll alliance for the January 15 elections to the 65-member PCMC, where the latter emerged the single largest party winning 25 seats. The Congress bagged 12. The Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT) combine, with 37 votes, received support from an independent and a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator, easily winning the Mayoral poll. Iqbal is the first Shiv Sena (UBT) Mayor of Parbhani, where the post was earlier held by the Congress for multiple terms. Talking to reporters, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Jadhav said his party was confident of winning the Parbhani Mayoral poll. ''I had earlier said the next Mayor of Parbhani will be from our party. Whatever happened in Chandrapur was limited to that city. We had a pre-poll alliance (with Congress) here (in Parbhani). We stayed together and also received support from an independent and an NCP corporator. We have given the first Mayor from our party,'' he maintained. The Opposition BJP criticised the Shiv Sena (UBT), headed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, for its choice of candidate for the Mayor's post and accused it of ignoring Marathi 'manoos' (Marathi people). State BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban said, ''Uddhav Thackeray is taking forward the agenda of Aurangzeb in Parbhani. They take the name of Marathi manoos before elections, but when time comes to install a Mayor, they field a Muslim candidate.'' Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Sandip Deshpande defended the nomination of Iqbal. Deshpande said, ''His work is important. I believe he will work in the interest of the city. Are Muslims not allowed to live in the country?'' In the polls, the Shiv Sena UBT won 25 seats, followed by the BJP (12), Congress (12), NCP (11), Jan Surajya Shakti (3), Yeshwant Sena (1) and Independent (1). Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said the party supported Sena (UBT) in the Parbhani mayoral election to keep the BJP away from power and to follow alliance principles, but criticised the Sena's role in Chandrapur. Speaking to reporters in Buldhana, Sapkal said, ''In Parbhani, Shiv Sena (UBT) got the mayor's post, while Congress secured the deputy mayor's post. All 12 Congress corporators voted for the Sena (UBT) candidate to prevent the BJP from coming to power.'' ''We stood by the INDIA alliance and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance to protect democracy and the Constitution, all our corporators supported Shiv Sena (UBT),'' Sapkal said. However, in Chandrapur, the Sena (UBT) did not follow the alliance spirit and instead supported the BJP. It was politically wrong, he alleged. ''Although there was a proposal to make a Congress mayor in Parbhani, the party gave up the claim in the interest of the alliance. We are not hungry for power. We honoured the alliance. But the events in Chandrapur and Parbhani show that Shiv Sena (UBT) takes Congress' votes, but does not support it when needed,'' he said. Congress leaders were in touch with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, including MP Sanjay Raut, regarding the Chandrapur issue, Sapkal said, saying some statements made by Sena leaders were inappropriate for an alliance partner. He also said that the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which he described as a friendly party of the Congress, had expelled its two corporators who were absent during voting and also took Action against its city president. ''But Shiv Sena (UBT) took no action and instead defended its stand. Congress will not accept this,'' he said.

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