Jaipur, Sep 19 ( IANS) The political contest for the Jaipur Municipal Corporation Mayoral post has taken shape, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) naming Sunil Kothari and the Congress fielding Sunita Mahawar.
Kothari, a former Jaipur City BJP President and newly elected Councillor from Ward-112, filed his nomination on Saturday.
Mahawar, a Congress Councillor from Ward-118, has also entered the political fray.
The BJP has 78 Councillors in the 150-member corporation, while the Congress has 57 and Independents hold 15 seats.
The Mayoral election is scheduled for September 25, with voting to be held between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. if the political contest remains contested after the withdrawal process.
The BJP finalised Kothari's candidature after consultations within the party. He reached the Jaipur Municipal Corporation headquarters on Saturday afternoon to file his nomination, accompanied by several senior BJP leaders.
Kothari has been associated with the BJP organisation for several decades and has previously served as Jaipur City BJP President. He has also held other organisational responsibilities within the BJP.
In the upcoming Jaipur municipal corporation election, Kothari contested Ward-112 and defeated the Congress candidate Ashish Sharma by 905 votes, according to reports on the election result.
His election affidavit reportedly puts the value of his movable and immovable assets at around Rs 35.87 crore.
The Congress has fielded Sunita Mahawar from Ward-118. She is a long-time Congress worker with experience in Jaipur's municipal politics and has previously held responsibilities in the Municipal Corporation.
Mahawar is associated with the Adarsh Nagar area and is considered close to Congress MLA Rafeek Khan.
The Congress has also indicated that it is seeking support beyond its own Councillor group ahead of the Mayoral election.
Khan has publicly claimed that some BJP Councillors are in contact with the Congress, though such claims have not been independently verified.
Mahawar's candidature gives the Congress a woman Councillor with experience in local politics as its challenger to the BJP candidate Sunil Kothari.
The Jaipur Municipal Corporation has 150 wards.
Following the September 17 repoll results, the final party-wise tally stands at BJP: 78, Congress: 57 and Independents: 15.
The BJP therefore has a majority in the 150-member corporation.
The four wards that went to repoll were all won by Congress, taking its tally from 53 to 57.
The 15 Independent Councillors could nevertheless remain politically significant during the Mayoral election, particularly because the Mayor is elected through a vote of the elected Councillors.
The Rajasthan State Election Commission has scheduled the Jaipur Mayoral election for September 25.
Nominations were accepted on September 18 and 19, scrutiny is scheduled for September 21, and September 22 is the deadline for withdrawal of candidature.
With both major parties, BJP and the Congress, now having formally announced candidates, the focus shifts to the nomination scrutiny, withdrawal process and the efforts of the parties to consolidate support ahead of the September 25 vote.
Source: IANS
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