Bhiwandi Mayor to be Muslim, Deputy Mayor Hindu Under Secular Front Pact: Congress

Bhiwandi: Bhiwandi-Nizampur's mayor will be a Muslim and the deputy mayor a Hindu as part of a power-sharing pact proposed by the newly formed Bhiwandi Secular Front, Congress has asserted. The alliance, comprising Congress (which won 30 seats in the civic polls), NCP (SP) (12 seats), and SP (six seats), has claimed a clear majority in the 90-member Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation. BJP secured 22 seats, Shiv Sena 12, and Konark Vikas Aghadi and Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi four each.

Abdul Tahir Momin, Congress's district president and chairman of the front, said since his party has the most corporators, the mayor will be chosen from it. He said discussions will be held among alliance partners to decide the distribution of other key posts. He dismissed speculation that some winners were in touch with rival parties.

Leaders of the alliance said the parties' strong electoral performance was the result of coordinated efforts at the grassroots level. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh played a key role in mobilising support and ensuring the election of a maximum number of corporators from his party, Congress, and NCP (SP). According to Shaikh, the objective behind forming the front was to ensure that a civic administration guided by secular values takes charge of the municipal corporation.

Meanwhile, BJP claimed it will muster the numbers required for majority. Its Bhiwandi president, Ravikant Sawant, said the party is working on forming an alliance with Sena's 12 corporators and one Independent—taking their tally to 35—and hopes to secure additional support from others.