Sena candidate elected Thane mayor unopposed as Cong, NCP don’t field candidates
Amid talks of a three-party government, the mayoral elections in Thane saw Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress come together, with Sena corporator Naresh Mhaske being elected unopposed as the new mayor. Both NCP and Congress did not field any candidates against Mhaske on the request of MLA and Sena leader Eknath Shinde. Sena corporator Pallavi Kadam was elected as the deputy mayor. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who visited the Thane civic body, along with son Aaditya, however, left after the felicitation. “I’ll speak about the government formation only when the time is right,” he said. Thackeray sat in the mayor’s cabin with Shinde and NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad.
“I would like to thank people from all the parties who helped elect Sena’s mayor unopposed in Thane. It is true I had requested the other parties to not field any candidate and they had agreed,” said Shinde. Mhaske, the 22nd mayor of the city, said, “My prime focus will be development of Thane city.”