3 minutes of readingPuneFebruary 6, 2026 02:46 pm IST
Bharatiya Janata Party corporator Ravi Landge was elected unopposed as mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad on Friday, and Sharmila Babar, also of the BJP, was elected unopposed as vice-mayor of the industrial city.
Landge was the only candidate for the mayor’s office.. For the post of deputy mayor, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) received two nominations – one from Sharmila Babar of the BJP and another from Vaishali Kalbhor of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
At Friday’s meeting to elect the mayor and deputy mayor, Kalbhor withdrew his nomination, paving the way for Babar’s unopposed election as deputy mayor.
Ravi Landge has been elected corporator from Bhosari area for the second time. On both occasions he was elected without opposition. He was the first corporator in Maharashtra to be elected unopposed, a trend that was later followed by more than 65 corporators in various municipal corporations in the state.
These unopposed elections sparked protests from the opposition, which alleged that most of the unopposed corporators belonged to the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena. Opposition parties claimed that money and muscle power were used to discourage electoral contests.
After being elected as the 27th mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Landge said he would work for the all-round development of the city. He added that his focus would be on keeping Pimpri-Chinchwad on a fast track of development. “I will work for the all-round development of Pimpri-Chinchwad and at the same time give confidence to everyone,” he said.
During the meeting, the House observed two minutes of silence. memory of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawarwho died in a plane crash last week. Pawar is widely credited with driving the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad during the last two decades when the NCP was in power.
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Paying tributes, BJP corporator Prashant Shitole said, “The PCMC will set up a big memorial in honor of Ajit Pawar. The suggestion comes from MLA Mahesh Landge. The BJP will work maintaining the trust of everyone.”
Most of the 128 newly elected corporations attended the election meeting. Supporters of both the mayor and the deputy mayor gathered at the PCMC headquarters. However, unlike previous occasions, there were no celebrations following the death of Ajit Pawar, often described as the architect of Pimpri-Chinchwad development.