2 min readPuneFeb 18, 2026 07:11 PM IST
Senior BJP corporator Shrinath Bhimale is set to become the chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The ruling BJP, which holds a comfortable majority in the civic body, officially declared Bhimale as its candidate for the chairperson’s post Wednesday.
The 16-member committee was constituted last week, with seats distributed according to the strength of political parties in the house: BJP: 13; Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): 2; Congress: 1 The election for the chairperson’s post is scheduled for February 24. Given the BJP’s overwhelming majority, Bhimale’s election is considered a formality.
The standing committee is responsible for making financial decisions for the civic body. The chairperson, whose term is for one year, is responsible for tabling the civic budget in the general body. The upcoming 2026-27 budget, currently being finalised by the civic administration, will soon be presented to the committee. The committee deliberates on tax proposals, municipal loans, and service fees. It also holds the power to approve funding for infrastructure and development projects across the city.
The civic general body earlier elected Manjusha Nagpure of the BJP as mayor and Parshuram Wadekar, also from the BJP, as deputy mayor of the city.
The PMC, which had been under administrator rule since March 2022, following the expiration of the previous five-year term. After a nearly four-year break, the city held its much-awaited civic general elections on January 15, 2026, to elect 165 corporators across 41 wards.
The BJP won 119 elected corporator seats in the PMC, while the NCP secured 27 seats, the Congress 15, the NCP (SP) three, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) one.
In addition to the Standing Committee, the civic body is set to elect chairpersons for several other panels, including the City Improvement Committee, Legal Committee, Sports Committee, and the Women and Child Welfare Committee.
