From an autorickshaw driver to PCMC’s mayor, meet Rahul Jadhav
In the absence of Shravan Hardikar, PCMC municipal commissioner, Nayana Gunde, chairperson and managing director of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), conducted the election to the mayor post at the municipal corporation hall on Saturday.
Rahul Jadhav, a former autorickshaw driver, was elected as the mayor of the Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) on Saturday. Jadhav believes that Pimpri-Chinchwad is known as the city of workers and he understands the problems of the workers. He promised an all-inclusive development of the township.
Sachin Chinchwade of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was also elected as the deputy mayor of PCMC.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Jadhav said, “Pimpri Chinchwad city is known as the city of workers. I have worked as an autorickshaw driver and know what the problems of the workers are. With the help of senior party leaders, we are committed to the all-inclusive development of the city.”
In the absence of Shravan Hardikar, PCMC municipal commissioner, Nayana Gunde, chairperson and managing director of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), conducted the election to the mayor post at the municipal corporation hall on Saturday.
Jadhav, who represents ward number two, has promised to focus on the overall and all-inclusive development of the industrial city. Jadhav bagged 80 votes, including six from independent corporators. However, Vinod Nadhe of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) only managed to bag 33 votes. However, Chinchwade received 79 votes against the 32 of NCP’s Vinaya Tapkir. Representatives of Shiv Sena abstained from voting process.
Before the commencement of the voting, Gunde also gave 15 minutes time to candidates to withdraw their nomination from the election process.
In the municipal corporation election held in 2017, Chinchwade was elected as a corporator from ward number 17 (his first term) on BJP’s ticket. He is considered ‘lucky’ by many corporators as he will now be the deputy mayor in his very first tenure as a corporator.
On July 24, a day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visited Pimpri-Chinchwad and held talks with party workers, mayor Nitin Kalje and deputy mayor Shailaja More had resigned. The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) had appointed Nitin Kalje as mayor, Shailaja More as deputy mayor, and Eknath Pawar as the leader of house for a fifteen-month term, after the local body elections in February 2017. As the term ended in June, both Kalje and More resigned.