Navi Mumbai, (The Hindu): The Nationalist Congress Party has wrested back power in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) Standing Committee after a year. The party’s candidate Shubhangi Patil beat the Sena’s Rucha Ramchandra Patil by a margin of two votes in the election to the post of chairman on Tuesday.

The poll, which was held in the presence of election officer and Additional Collector Raigad P.D. Mallikner, was first time two women were contesting for the post. Sixteen members of the committee voted by a show of hands. Shubhangi received nine votes and Rucha secured seven.

Last year, the Sena seized the chairmanship of the standing committee for the first time after it won the support of Congress member Meera Patil. This year all the eyes were on Meera Patil as her vote would decide the winner. NMMC’s standing committee consists of eight NCP members, six from the Sena, and one each from the Congress and the BJP. If Meera Patil would have voted for the Sena, both candidates would have polled equal votes and the winner would have to be decided by picking lots. Meera Patil said, “I share a good relationship with Santosh Shetty and Shubhangi Patil’s late father D.R. Patil from the Congress. That is why I decided to vote for her.”

Focus on hospitals

After the win, Shubhangi Patil, a second-time corporator from Turbhe area and a diploma holder in electronic engineering, said, “I am thankful to all the committee members for electing me. This win was possible only because of their support and the blessings of my father who was the ex-chairman of the committee when the Congress was in power. As chairman, I will look into the issues faced by the NMMC’s mother and child hospital in Turbhe and Airoli. The hospital lacks the necessary equipment.”