Patna: The election for the Empowered Standing Committee of the Patna Municipal Corporation concluded on Friday, with two new members securing seats while five incumbent members were re-elected.
Sunita Devi from Ward No. 68 and Rajkumar Gupta from Ward No. 35 emerged as the newly elected members. The five returning members are Kumar Sanjeet from Ward No. 34, Shweta Rai from Ward No. 14, Anita Devi from Ward No. 22, Manoj Kumar from Ward No. 67 and Vinod Kumar from Ward No. 70.
Voting And Counting Process
Voting began at 8am and continued until 1:30pm. Of the 75 ward councillors eligible to vote, 73 cast their ballots. Councillors from Ward Nos. 24 and 30 remained absent during the polling process.
Following the conclusion of voting, ballot counting commenced and was completed by 2:15pm. Election officials subsequently handed over certificates to the successful candidates.
Vote Margins
Kumar Sanjeet secured 39 votes, defeating Pinky Yadav, who received 31 votes.
Rajkumar Gupta won with 38 votes, while Rajni Singh secured 34 votes.
Shweta Rai and Manoj Kumar each received 40 votes. Their respective opponents, Jeet Kumar and Seema Verma, received 31 and 32 votes.
Anita Devi secured one of the closest contests, receiving 36 votes against Jaiprakash’s 35 votes.
Vinod Kumar recorded the highest tally in the election with 43 votes, while Manoj Mehta received 28 votes.
New Selection Method Introduced
The Empowered Standing Committee comprises seven members and plays a key role in municipal decision-making.
This election marked the first time that members were chosen through a voting process involving ward councillors. Previously, members of the committee were selected directly by the Mayor.
The change introduces a new mechanism for constituting the committee, giving elected ward representatives a direct role in determining its membership.
