Syed Iqbal Wins in Parbhani, Becomes 1st Muslim Mayor From Shiv Sena

Mumbai: In a significant development in Maharashtra politics, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Muslim corporator Syed Iqbal was on Thursday elected the new Mayor of Parbhani city with Congress support. He is the first Muslim to hold a mayoral post for any faction of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

In the mayoral election held, Syed Iqbal secured 39 votes defeating his BJP rival Tirumala Khillare by a comfortable margin of 13 votes. Congress corporator Ganesh Deshmukh was elected the Deputy Mayor of Parbhani.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress had a pre-poll alliance for the January 15 elections to the 65-member Parbhani City Municipal Corporation (PCMC), where the former emerged the single largest party winning 25 seats. The Congress bagged 12.

With this result, Parbhani has become the only municipal corporation in Maharashtra where the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has secured the Mayor's post.

Iqbal is also the first Shiv Sena (UBT) Mayor of Parbhani, where the post was earlier held by the Congress for multiple terms.

Before this mayoral appointment, the most prominent Muslim face of the undivided Shiv Sena was Sabir Shaikh, who served as a Cabinet Minister in the 1995 Maharashtra government and was a close aide to Balasaheb Thackeray.

The election of Iqbal in Parbhani has been viewed by political analysts as part of the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s efforts to build a more inclusive ‘secular’ image following its alliance with the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi).

Reacting to the development, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam made a sharp political attack on the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. He said, “Sena (UBT) has made Syed Iqbal the mayor of Parbhani Municipal Corporation. That is a calculated move because the Muslim vote bank is crucial for UBT. Without bulk Muslim support, even reaching double digits in Mumbai would have been difficult.”

Nirupam further alleged that the party had moved away from its ideological roots. “First, they betrayed the Hindus for Muslim votes and now they have shown disregard for Marathi society as well. Will Uddhav Thackeray still claim to be the true heir to Balasaheb Thackeray's ideals?” he asked.

The BJP criticised the Shiv Sena (UBT) for its choice of candidate for the Mayor’s post and accused it of ignoring Marathi ‘manoos’ (Marathi people).

State BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban said, “Uddhav Thackeray is taking forward the agenda of Aurangzeb in Parbhani. They take the name of Marathi manoos before elections, but when time comes to install a Mayor, they field a Muslim candidate.”

In the PCMC polls, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 25 seats, followed by the BJP (12), Congress (12), NCP (11), Jan Surajya Shakti (3), Yeshwant Sena (1) and Independent (1).