Half a dozen women councillors in civic body eyeing Mayor's post

The city will get a new mayor in June 2018 when Gautam Shah's term ends. According to the rotational system followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, a woman candidate should be appointed to the post. There are half a dozen women councillors in the civic body who are eyeing the top post.

Interestingly, some of the first-time councillors are keen on taking up the job. They are making enquiries about the different departments of the civic body and their functioning, some even after two years of getting elected, according to sources.

One such aspirant is Bindu Kakdia, the kin of Vallabh Kakdia, an MLA from Thakkarbapanagar. The list includes two senior contenders, who are members of the Standing Committee at present. While Nandini Pandya, Chairman of Women and Child Development Committee is one of them, Bijal Patel, Chairman of Recreational and Heritage Committee is the other favourite.

Patel was among the top contenders even five years ago when the BJP selected Me-enakshi Patel for the mayor's post. The other three contenders are Deputy Mayor Pramoda Sutariya, Deepti Amarkoitya and Madhuben Patel.This time the BJP is likely to select a person who can improve the party's image and has a good hold over the executive wing. The new mayor will have the responsibility of two upcoming elections – general elections in 2019 and the civic body elections in 2020.

FIRST TIMERS

Some of the first-time councillors are keen on taking up the job. They are making enquiries about departments of the civic body and their functioning, some even after two years of getting elected, sources said.