Shiv Sena man is Mumbai mayor

Mumbai : Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar was elected Mumbai’s 76th mayor by a show of hands after the Bharatiya Janata Party extended support.
The BJP, which won 82 seats in the corporation against the Shiv Sena’s 84 in a House 227, chose not to contest the election and extend support to the regional party instead. Both the parties are allies in the state government under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
According to information from the BMC, Mahadeshwar won by 171 votes with several independent corporators also voting for him, among them Geeta Gawli, daughter of convicted gangster Arun Gawli. Mahadeshwar defeated Congress’s Vitthal Lokare.
Earlier this week Fadnavis said the BJP would vote for the Shiv Sena candidate instead of abstaining as part of its efforts to repair strained ties between the allies.
Tension was palpable in the BMC central hall where the mayoral election took place, with both the Shiv Sena and the BJP corporators trying to out-shout each other. While the BJP corporators shouted “Modi, Modi”, the Shiv Sena corporators retaliated by shouting “Jai Balasaheb”.
Fadnavis has announced that the BJP’s corporators would not contest the election for members of the powerful Standing Committee as well. The committee is in charge of approving contracts worth crores of rupees every year.
The BJP, which accused the Shiv Sena of corruption in the BMC, has announced that it would act as a watchdog to keep an eye on the ruling party.