Mayor’s tenure likely to be divided in Sangli and Solapur

Kolhapur: BJP, which can single-handedly set up its mayor for Solapur, Ichalkaranji and the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporations with the help of two corporators of Shiv Sena, is expected to struggle over the next five years to satisfy corporators keen to become mayors in their respective cities.To keep the corporators satisfied, BJP is likely to reach an arrangement to appoint a new mayor every year or 1.5 years, meaning five mayors over the next five years in the respective municipal corporations. The mayor's post in Sangli and Solapur is reserved for the open category, and in Ichalkaranji, it was reserved for an OBC candidate.
Lobbying has already started. BJP, which had been recruiting former corporators and politicians from other parties, has a significant number of unhappy workers, mainly loyalists who have been with the party from the start. Whether BJP is going to make new entrants the mayors or give chance to the loyalists is what time will tell.Satej Patil, Congress MLA, said, "We are eager to see whether BJP gives a chance to loyalists or those who joined the party recently."The lobbying is not limited to the local level. Corporators are also trying to get appointments with state leaders of their party so that they can put their weight behind them."We are a party with discipline. The corporators will be shortlisted, and their names will be discussed in the state-level panel. Backgrounds will be checked, and the loyalists will get priority," said a senior BJP politician on the condition of anonymity.Once the post is reserved, the reservation stays for five years. However, parties can make mayors resign and get another corporator elected to the post, provided that the corporator fits the reservation criteria. In Kolhapur, between 2010 and 2020, there were 17 mayors in total, some with a one-year tenure and some with tenures of months.In Solapur and Sangli, where the posts are reserved for women candidates, BJP made the mayors serve 2.5-year terms during the past tenure of the civic body.