India, Feb. 6 -- Sujata Patil and Dashrath Bhagat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were elected unopposed as the mayor and the deputy mayor of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Thursday, bringing to end the fierce tussle between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the two posts.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, in a dramatic last minute move, pulled out of the race. The party had declared candidates for both posts after BJP strongman Ganesh Naik unilaterally declared Patil and Bhagat's names on the last day of nominations, keeping even BJP leaders in the dark.

The atmosphere in the NMMC general body shifted when Shiv Sena group leader Manoj Haldankar announced the withdrawal of mayoral candidate Saroj Patil and deputy mayo...