WITH THE five-year term of the elected general body of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) coming to an end, municipal commissioner Vikram Singh will also take charge as the administrator on Tuesday to keep the civic operations going.
This is the first time that the PMC will have an administrator. The administrator was appointed as as the civic polls for electing the general body for the next five years could not be held due to the pandemic situation and also the decision of the state assembly to hold elections only after getting the Other Backward Class (OBC) category reservation restored for elections.
Ruling BJP called a general body meeting on the last day of the five-year term. Senior leaders of all political parties spoke at the meeting to recall their experiences and achievements during the term.
In 2017, the BJP got full majority for the first time in PMC by winning 97 of the 162 seats. The NCP bagged 39 seats, Shiv Sena won 10, Congress 9 , MNS two , and AIMIM won one seat while 4 seats were won by Independents.
However, the extension of civic boundaries by inclusion of 23 more villages last year and projecting an increase in population of the city, the state government has increased the strength of elected representatives in the next general body to 173 from 58 electoral wards on the basis of multi-member ward of three in 57 wards and two in one ward.
Accordingly, the state election commission got the delimitation process done by holding a public hearing. However, the state government on Monday issued notification declaring that the process stands cancelled as the assembly has entrusted the complete power on the state election commission.