Wagh polled 54 votes with the backing of BJP in the 122-member Nashik civic body. The Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP abstained from voting.
In a maiden victory in its mayoral venture in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Thursday bagged the mayor's post in the 122-member Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) when its candidate Yatin Raghunath Wagh trounced CPM's Tanaji Laxman Jaibhave in Nashik with the support of BJP, after Shiv Sena withdrew from the poll fray.
Wagh polled 56 votes, backed by the BJP (14 seats) and Jansurajya Party (two seats). He won the prestigious post defeating his only CPM rival Jaibhave, who secured merely three votes.
The NCP (20), Congress (15) and Independents (6) remained neutral while Shiv Sena (19) staged a walk out from the House.
There were a total of 11 candidates in the mayoral poll fray but nine withdrawls, including those by major parties ensured that there was a straight fight between Wagh and Jaibhave. The Shiv Sena, which had fielded its own candidate for the post, too withdrew at the last minute.
The Raj-Thackeray-led MNS, which emerged as the single largest party in Nashik, with 40 seats in the House needed the majority mark of 62 to get the mayor's post.
BJP's Satishnana Kulkarni got elected as the deputy mayor defeating Jaibhave, who contested for both the posts.
Later, talking to newspersons, Wagh said, "I, as the first MNS mayor in Maharashtra will try to fulfil all the development needs of Nashik, as envisioned by Raj Thackeray."
Meanwhile, senior Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant, expressed disappointment over BJP's move and said the party has not maintained 'yuticha dharma' (coalition dharma).
Both Shiv Sena and BJP contested the NMC elections seperately for the first time in the last two decades. Sena won 19 seats while BJP got 14 seats in the newly elected NMC leaving the RPI(A) and CPM with three seats each.
Meanwhile, MNS thanked the BJP for its support in the Nashik Mayoral poll.
"People's mandate was with us. We thank BJP for their support. We are supporting them in Thane and Nagpur unconditionally," MNS legislator Bala Nandgaonkar told reporters in Mumbai.
Nandgaonkar maintained the BJP's support to his party will in no way affect the Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI alliance.
Maharashtra BJP President Sudhir Mungantiwar clarified that the talks between BJP and the Raj Thackeray-led outfit took place over phone and not behind the curtains.
"Mandate of the people was with MNS. They have won 40 seats. Respecting the people's mandate we have supported them in Nashik," he asserted.
Mungantiwar pointed out that BJP had contested the last month's election to NMC on its own.
MNS MLAs like Nitin Sardesai, Pravin Darekar and Ram Kadam distributed sweets to the Congress-NCP Ministers and also to the mediapersons in the state Legislature premises after the victory in Nashik Mayoral poll.
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