Thane, February 11 New Thane Mayor Sharmila Pimpalolkar formally took office at the civic body headquarters on Wednesday, in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, eight days after being unopposed elected to the post. A Shiv Sena corporator, Pimpalolkar was elected to the largely ceremonial post on February 3 at a special general body meeting of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). BJP corporator Krishna Patil, who was elected Deputy Mayor on the same day, had already taken office. Pimpalolkar officially took over the Mayor's post in the presence of Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena. Thane is the political domain of the Deputy Chief Minister, who is an MLA from the city. The five-year term of the previous municipal body ended on March 6, 2022, after which the TMC was placed under administrative control of an administrator for nearly four years by the state government. With the January 15 municipal elections and the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, elected representatives have resumed control of the 131-member corporation's functioning. In the elections, the Shiv Sena secured a majority in the new House, winning 75 seats, followed by its ally BJP (28), Nationalist Congress Party-SP (12), NCP (9), AIMIM (5), Shiv Sena-UBT (1) and Independent (1). The Shiv Sena and BJP, which contested the elections in an alliance, jointly formed the new civic administration in Thane.
