India, Feb. 4 -- In choosing 46-year-old business management postgraduate Manjusha Nagpure as the next mayor of Pune, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opted for a middle-class, educated leader with long-standing ideological roots in the Sangh Parivar, signalling its preference for a candidate seen as both organisationally grounded and politically non-controversial.

The mayor's post in Pune was reserved this term for women from the general category, prompting several aspirants within the BJP to stake claim. The party's city unit had forwarded the names of Ranjana Tilekar, Manasi Deshpande, Varsha Tapkir and Nagpure to the state leadership. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared Nagpure's name for the post. Party sources said Varsha ...