BJP names former minister’s son, four others as co-opted members of Sambhajinagar civic body

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Harshvardhan Karad, the son of former Union minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad, is among five politicians named by BJP as co-opted members of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) on Monday.The BJP's other co-opted members are Chhaya Khajekar, Gokul Malke, Vijaysingh Zala and Amruta Palodkar. The party filled its allotment of five co-opted posts based on its numerical strength in the civic body.Meanwhile, Shiv Sena named Shubham Kale as its co-opted member in the CSMC, a decision that sparked protests by a group of party aspirants at Kranti Chowk. The protesters levelled allegations against party functionary and deputy mayor Rajendra Janjal over the selection. Janjal did not respond to the charges till late in the evening. Separately, Shiv Sena (UBT) announced Pradeep Shinde as its co-opted member.Sources said Harshvardhan Karad was keen to contest the municipal elections, but BJP's policy against fielding relatives of established politicians ruled out his candidature. With his father's Rajya Sabha term having ended recently, he reportedly pursued entry into the civic body through co-option.The selection process proved challenging for BJP, with 147 local functionaries applying for the five co-opted posts. Many aspirants were either denied party tickets for the municipal elections or had lost the polls.BJP city president Kishor Shitole said priority was given to long-serving party workers. "Local netas who have worked for the party for many years have been given the opportunity to become co-opted members. We hope they use it for the larger public good," he said, adding that defeated candidates were excluded during the screening process.In the 115-member CSMC, BJP has 57 elected corporators, entitling it to five co-opted members, while both factions of Shiv Sena have one co-opted member each. AIMIM has already named its three co-opted members to the municipal corporation.