Daijiworld Media Network – Jalgaon

Jalgaon, Nov 21: The final day for withdrawal of nominations in the Jalgaon district civic elections brought significant developments, with three candidates in Jamner Municipal Council being elected unopposed. With this, BJP has secured a total of ten unopposed wins so far — one for the post of Chairperson and nine for councillor seats.

In Jamner Municipal Council, which has 27 wards, BJP’s Sadhana Mahajan, wife of Minister Girish Mahajan, has been elected unopposed as Chairperson. Along with her, nine BJP councillor candidates have also secured uncontested victories. However, to form the council, the BJP still needs to win five more seats. Elections will now be held for the remaining 15 wards.

Meanwhile, political dynamics shifted sharply in Muktainagar after the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate for the Chairperson’s post, Bhagyashree Jain, withdrew her nomination on the last day. This has paved the way for a direct contest between the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde) faction.

The Chairperson’s race in Muktainagar will now see a face-off between Sanjana Patil, daughter of Shinde faction MLA Chandrakant Patil, and BJP’s Bhavana Lalit Mahajan. Elections will be held for 17 seats in the council.

The BJP has intensified its efforts in Muktainagar after senior leader Eknath Khadse opted out of the elections, stating that the party lacked sufficient strength locally. Under the leadership of Union Minister Raksha Khadse, the BJP is gearing up for a high-stakes clash against the Shinde faction. The contest has become a matter of prestige for both MLA Chandrakant Patil and Union Minister Raksha Khadse.

In Chalisgaon Municipal Council, which has a total of 37 members, the battle for the Chairperson’s post will be a multi-cornered one. Candidates in the fray include Padmaja Deshmukh from the City Development Front, Pratibha Chavan — wife of BJP MLA Mangesh Chavan, AAP’s Rahul Bhimrao Jadhav, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) nominee Samadhan Bhimrao Patil.