HC stays appointment of AIMIM corporator as opposition leader in Nanded civic body

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court on Wednesday stayed a May 4, 2026, letter issued by the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation mayor appointing an AIMIM corporator as the leader of opposition, following a challenge by Congress politicians.A division bench of Justices Nitin Suryawanshi and Abasaheb Shinde issued notices to state govt, the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC) and the mayor, and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.The petition was filed by Congress corporator Abdul Gaffar Abdul Sattar and Congress-Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi alliance leader Prashant Ingole through senior counsel Rajendra Deshmukh.According to the petition, Congress and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi had contested the NWMC elections as a pre-poll alliance.

Together, they won 15 seats — 10 by Congress and five by VBA — making them the largest opposition bloc in the civic body.The alliance subsequently elected Prashant Ingole as its group leader and recommended Congress corporator Abdul Gaffar Abdul Sattar for the post of opposition leader, contending that the position should go to the largest opposition group.However, AIMIM, which secured 14 seats, elected Syed Mujim Syed Mukhtar as its group leader and recommended Mohammed Masood Ahmed Khan for the LoP post.

Acting on the recommendation, the mayor appointed Khan as the opposition leader through a letter issued on May 4.Challenging the appointment, the petitioners argued that the mayor ignored the numerical strength of the Congress-VBA alliance while making the decision.Chief government pleader Amarjeetsingh Girase told TOI, “State is a formal party in this petition as the decision to appoint LoP in NWMC has been taken at the local level by the mayor. The response on behalf of the state and the civic body, will be filed within stipulated time given by the HC.”After hearing the matter, the high court stayed the operation of the mayor’s letter and sought responses from all respondents.