To express gratitude for poll win, MNS corporator offers her hair to deity

After making a vow and invoking heavenly blessings for a sure win in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Roopali Patil kept her promise made before Lord Balaji at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh recently and had her head shaved and offered the shorn locks to the deity after she was elected.

Patil said, "Being a religious person, I offered my two-feet long tresses to Lord Balaji at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh before Diwali as I promised to do so if I won my first PMC election."u00a0

Wish granted: Corporator Roopali Patil, who won PMC election on a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ticket, vowed to offer her hair in Lord Balaji Temple at Tirumala if her wish was fulfilled

Patil became the centre of attraction when she removed her head scarf in the General Body meeting in the PMC house yesterday. "God performed a miracle and made me win my first PMC election from Ward No 50 in Sadashiv Peth," Patil said.

She added that it was a pleasant surprise to win the election by a margin of over 2,000 votes. BJP woman candidate Ragini Khadake got 5,507 votes, whereas I got 7,643 votesu00a0Yugandhara Chakankar, another MNS winning candidate from Dhayari, said, "My party workers Ritesh Shirke and Sunil Deshmukh had also made a vow to Lord Balaji if their boon was granted. They will be visiting Balaji Temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh shortly to donate their hair."

All for Balasaheb
After Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray passed away, many party corporators have decided to shave their heads to pay tribute to their departed leader. "Shaving the head is a Hindu custom followed when a senior member of the family dies. Balasaheb was like a father figure to all of us and we are bound to do so," Ashok Harnawal, party leader, PMC, said. u00a0