Malegaon:
Upbeat by the large number of Muslim candidates wining the recently held civic
elections in Prabhani, the community now wants to see a Muslim on
the post of first Mayor of the town which was accorded minority
status by the government of Maharashtra about two years ago.
In the elections held on April 15 -
first after Prabhani, the town having around 35% Muslim population
was upgraded to a corporation, a total of 22 Muslim candidates of
various political parties were elected. The tally is the best so
far in this Marathwada town. Interestingly, one among these 22
Muslims has won on Shiv Sena ticket. Others include 13 from the
NCP, 06 from the Congress and 02 are independents.
As a whole, the Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP) has emerged as the single largest party winning 30 of
the total 65 seats. Congress is on the second position with a
tally of 23 corporators. The saffron alliance, which once ruled
the civic body, could win just 10 seats. While Shiv Sena (SS) won
08 seats, Bhartia Janata Party (BJP) could win just 02 seats.
As the NCP prepares itself to have
its mayor - with the clamour for a Muslim as the first mayor of
the town also growing, Syed Khalid alias Sajju Lala is emerging as
the front runner for the post. Former president of the civic body
and a powerful leader belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP), Lala won the elections despite facing opposition from his
own partymen.
In fact, a section in the NCP led by
a minister in the Maharashtra cabinet had succeeded in denying him
the party ticket. The party, however, was forced to field Lala as
party candidate after it failed to withstand the strong protest by
Lala's supporters.
Insiders while speaking to ummid.com
on phone say, Lala, besides being
front runner for the post of mayor, has also been regarded as the
strong contender for the post of district president of the NCP.
His opponents in the party, however, want to keep him away from
this post at any cost. It was in order to reduce his clout that
they wanted to see Lala out of the civic body.
However, by
registering a thumping victory - despite facing stiff oppositions
from friends and foes together, Lala has proved he is not the one
to be ignored so easily.
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