First-timers make party seek review; seat reserved for woman OBC candidate.
A day after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) emerged as the single largest party in Pune, the party leaders are worried about who will be the next mayor. The seat for Pune’s first citizen is reserved for other backward classes (OBC) woman candidate.
The party has eight such corporators, with only two experienced candidates and they too not well-educated. Now the NCP leadership is considering the possibility of a fresh draw on the grounds that the reservation for the mayor’s post is redundant as it was made when the reservation for women was 33% and not 50% as at present.
Rajlakshmi Bhosale was chosen by NCP as mayor in 2007. In 2010, the urban development department held a draw for the mayor’s post, which was reserved for a woman candidate. The post was de-reserved and Mohansingh Rajpal became the mayor.
In the new house, senior leaders of the NCP point out that amongst the eight OBC women corporators two i.e. Usha Kalamkar and Suman Pathare are second-time corporators, while the rest are first-time corporators. Traditionally, the post of the mayor always went to a “senior” party leader given the dignity attached to the post. Also the old-timers, some party leaders said, do not “fit the bill to be the candidates for the mayor of the city.”
Some party leaders said the old reservation was for the scenario when only 33% of the seats were reserved for women. “In the new scenario, 50% of the seats are now for women and reserving the seat for OBC women would not be right,” they said.
Given the above scenario, party leaders have already asked deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar to hold a fresh draw for reservation for the post of the mayor. “This would help deserving candidates in the party to ascend to the coveted post,” a senior NCP leader said.
In fact, a senior leader confided that a section of the party is contemplating promoting a first-time corporator to the post of the mayor: The name of Chanchala Kondre, a first-time corporator from Magarpatta City is doing the rounds in party circles. Party leaders point out how in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the NCP had elevated Aparna Doke, a first-time corporator as mayor. With the elections for the post of the mayor scheduled on March 15, the party leaders would be talking to Pawar to discuss the matter before taking a final decision.
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