Bilaspur: Congress' Shailendra Nirmalkar has won from ward number 4 of Takhatpur Nagar Palika.
Nirmalkar defeated his nearest rival, BJP's mandal president Nain Lal Sahu by a margin of 460 votes. Nirmalkar shot to fame after he told BJP workers that if Congress' Devendra Yadav lost the Lok Sabha election he will get his head tonsured. Yadav lost and Nirmalkar kept his word by tonsuring his head. He had his revenge 10 months later by defeating Sahu. Nirmalkar campaigned for the Nagar Palika election by reaching out to voters on their door steps. His party workers also stood by him.
Nirmalkar got 762 votes out of 1,093 cast during the elections. BJP's Sahu got 303 votes. Nirmalkar's mother Narmada Bai a sweeper said she was elated over her son's victory. Similarly his wife Shashi attributed the success to her husband's hard work.
The BJP won elections to a majority of civic bodies in the State, riding high on welfare schemes and fulfilled promises. The saffron party won all ten mayor posts in the state, poll officials said. Elections to 173 urban bodies, including 10 municipal corporations, 49 municipal councils and 114 Nagar Panchayats, were held on February 11. In the municipality elections, BJP won 35 out of 49 seats, while Congress managed to secure eight seats including Takhatpur, Mungeli, Katghora, Mahasamund, Bagbahara, Surajpur, Mandir Hasaud, and Abhanpur. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the polls in Bodri, while independent candidates claimed five seats in Ahiwara, Sakti, Pendra, Akaltara, and Simga.
