ISLAM Party's Nasreen Khalid Elected Mayor in Malegaon Municipal Corporation

Nashik:Sheikh Nasreen Khalid, a woman candidate of the ISLAM party, was elected the mayor of Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on Saturday, February 7. Shaan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed, also a woman corporator of theSamajwadi Party(SP), was elected to the deputy mayor’s post. Both the parties – the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra (ISLAM) and the SP – had stitched up an alliance and formed the Malegaon Secular Front. The magic figure to prove majority in the 84-member House was 43. In the January 15 civic elections, the ISLAM party won 35 seats, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) 21, Shiv Sena 18, SP five, Congress three, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 2. Both Khalid and Ahmed bagged 43 votes – 35 of the ISLAM party, five of the SP and three of the Congress. Their opponents Lata Ghodke and advocate Nilesh Kakde, both candidates of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, got 18 votes each. All the other candidates withdrew their nominations. AIMIMand BJP abstained from voting. The ISLAM party was established by Asif Sheikh Rasheed, a former Congress MLA.