Yet another blow to Kalmadi

Updated on: 06 March,2011 07:14 AM IST |
Vivek Sabnis |

Congress loses to BJP in PMC Standing Committee election

Congress loses to BJP in PMC Standing Committee electionu00a0

The CBI raided his bank lockers in Pune four days ago. Kalmadi was expecting the victory of Congress candidate Shankar Pawar but Pawar lost to BJP candidate Ganesh Bidkar who was voted in by the Nationalist Congress party (NCP), making him the winning candidate at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Standing Committee election on Saturday.

Bidkar received nine votes while Pawar got five. All votes, including NCP candidate Shrikant Patil's went to Bidkar. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) also voted for Bidkar while two voters from the Shiv Sena abstained from voting.

The NCP and Congress have five members each in the sixteen member standing committee, followed by BJP (3), Shiv Sena (2) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (1).A BJP corporator showed Sunday MiD DAY an SMS received from an NCP leader that read, "Boss (Ajit Pawar) orders to go with BJP."

A furious Kalmadi, who is in the city, blamed NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for withdrawing their support. "Congress will contest the February 2012 PMC elections independently," he said.

"The Congress follows a use-and-throw policy. This is the time to give a fitting reply by seeking help from the NCP against the Congress. It's tit for tat," said former BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar.