Pune, 23 February 2026: Senior corporator Shrinath Bhimale of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected unopposed as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation after the nomination of rival candidate Suhas Tingre from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was rejected for being submitted late.
Election Officer Satishkumar Khadke declared Tingre’s nomination invalid, stating that it was filed one minute after the official deadline at the office of the municipal secretary. With no other valid nominations remaining, Bhimale was declared elected unopposed.
Opposition members strongly objected to the decision. They claimed that Tingre was present in the municipal secretary’s office before the deadline and argued that his nomination should have been accepted. However, Khadke maintained that election rules could not be relaxed under any circumstances and upheld the rejection of the form.
The 16-member Standing Committee currently has a clear majority of 12 BJP members, while the NCP has three members. The BJP had officially nominated Bhimale for the post. NCP member Amol Balwadkar was absent during the election proceedings.
Following the announcement, civic leaders and party representatives congratulated Bhimale on his appointment.
