The General Board meeting, where nominations were to be announced on Monday, was also adjourned till Tuesday as a mark of respect to Bharuch BJP MP Chandubhai Deshmukh, as was another meeting held at 6 p.m. Former Mayor Dalsukhbhai Prajapati agreed that nothing much would be lost if the meeting was put off for a few days.

Sources, however, said the adjournment was welcome as the BJP had faced problems bringing the nomination list down to six. The party had shortlisted Maganbhai Desai, Kiranmai Mehta, Dr Jigeesha Sheth, Kaushik Patel, Bharati Vyas, Bhupendra Patel and Jashoda Sonera, sources said. Adding that Vyas and Sheth were among the contenders for the Mayor's post, while Desai was seeking re-election.

Magan Desai, Yogesh Patel, Arvind Patel, Rekha Pancholi, Alkaben Baxi and Shobhana Rana are retiring on Tuesday.

The councillors are also not sure about the implementation of the Mayor-in-Council system before the next mayoral polls, scheduled to be held before July 20.