Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s descendant elected as Pune mayor

PUNE: Mukta Tilak, BJP's four-time Corporator and a descendant of freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was today elected as the mayor of Pune.

Tilak (52), who received 98 votes, defeated NCP candidate Nanda Lonkar, who bagged 52, including those from from the Congress Corporators.

The Shiv Sena did not participate in the election process.


The BJP won 98 of the 162 seats in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the last month's elections. This is the first time the saffron outfit has won an absolute majority in the civic body, earlier considered a NCP stronghold.

Navnath Kamble of RPI (A), an ally of BJP, was elected as the deputy mayor. He got 98 votes as against his Congress rival Lata Rajguru's 52.

Tilak, who will take over as the 56th mayor, has been elected from Kasba Peth.

She completed her graduation in psychology from Fergusson College and later did MBA (marketing) from the Institute of Management Development and Research (IMDR) here. She also holds a diploma in journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

She worked as a market research analyst in MNCs before entering politics and had been elected Corporator four times.