THANE, Jan. 31 -- The tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena over the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) mayor's post culminated on Friday, with Sharmila Pimpolkar Gaikwad of the Shiv Sena and Krishna Patil of the BJP filing their nominations for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor, respectively. The two leaders filed their nomination papers in presence of Sena chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, Sena MP Naresh Mhaske, BJP MLA Niranjan Davkhare, and other leaders and office-bearers of the two parties. As no nominations have been filed against either candidate, both will be elected unopposed; the official announcement will be made on February 3. In the polls held on January 15, the Shinde-led Sena secured 75 seats, while the BJP won 28 seats. Seven corporators from the Shiv Sena and two from the BJP were elected from seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). The TMC mayor's post too was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) as per the lottery conducted on January 22. Mayor-designate Sharmila Pimpolkar Gaikwad was elected for the second consecutive term from Kopri ward number 20, while deputy mayor-designate Krishna Patil was elected for the third consecutive term from ward number 11. As per the power sharing deal between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, the mayor and the deputy mayor's tenure would be one year and three months, after which they would be replaced. The TMC, thus, would have four mayors and four deputy mayors over the five-year term, with the Sena retaining the mayor's post and the BJP keeping the deputy mayor's post. Meanwhile, in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Harshali Vijay Chaudhary on Thursday filed nomination papers for the mayor's post as the candidate of the alliance comprising Shiv Sena, BJP, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Rahul Vasant Damle of the BJP filed his nomination for the deputy mayor's post in presence of Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, Sena MLA Rajesh More, former MNS MLA Raju Patil, Shiv Sena district chief Gopal Landge, and other leaders and office-bearers....