Gandhinagar to get new Mayor

Gandhinagar: The Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) is set to appoint its Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Standing Committee Chairman at its first general meeting today, 20 days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the civic body elections.

According to media reports, Rup Singh Thakor, Kanaiyalal Desai, Mahesh Chaudhary and Dharmendra Nai are among the frontrunners for the Mayor’s post, which is reserved for an OBC male candidate during the first term. Hemaben Bhatt and Anjana Mehta are reportedly among the contenders for Deputy Mayor, while Mahendra Patel is said to be leading the race for Standing Committee Chairman. Anil Singh Vaghela is reportedly almost certain to be appointed the BJP’s party leader in the corporation.

The meeting, scheduled to begin at noon, failed to start on time, prompting Congress corporators to confront the Municipal Commissioner and allege administrative bias in favour of the ruling BJP.

Congress leader Karamjitsinh Vaghela, designated as the Leader of the Opposition, questioned why the meeting had not commenced despite the scheduled time having passed. He alleged that the municipal administration was functioning under pressure from the BJP and said a government office could not operate like a party office.

Vaghela maintained that delays in the BJP’s internal decision-making should not affect the functioning of the civic body and demanded that the administration stop discriminatory practices allegedly resulting from pressure by the ruling party.

The BJP is expected to announce its nominees for key posts through sealed envelopes during the meeting. The Mayor will then preside over the General Body proceedings, followed by the election of the Deputy Mayor and the announcement of the 12-member Standing Committee.

The Congress, which won five seats in the corporation and has the support of an independent councillor, is also expected to stake a claim to the Leader of the Opposition post, potentially strengthening its representation in the House compared with the previous term. DeshGujarat