BMC Mayor Lottery Pick: Mumbai Set To Get Woman Mayor – What It Means For BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena And Uddhav Thackeray

BMC Lottery Outcome: The high-stakes elections to Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will conduct a lottery today, Thursday, January 22, to decide the reservation category for the mayoral post. Amid uncertainty over the Mumbai mayor’s post, the process will determine reservations across 29 municipal corporations in the state, including the BMC.

Under the rotational reservation system, Mumbai is slated to get an open-category woman mayor, while Thane and Bhiwandi-Nizampur are likely to have mayors from the Scheduled Caste category. 

Sena (UBT) Alleges ST Quota Rules Tweaked to Favour Ruling Alliance

According to sources, the Shiv Sena (UBT) objected to the process, alleging that the reservation exercise was manipulated to favour the ruling alliance. Former Mumbai mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar claimed that the government altered the reservation norms for the Scheduled Tribe category at the last moment by changing the requirement of councillors from that category. 

She further alleged that Mumbai was deliberately excluded from the ST category as Shiv Sena (UBT) was the only party with two councillors from that category in the city. 

Speaking to reporters, Pednekar said that she would live up to the expectations of her party and would continue her efforts to make the mayor of Mumbai from Shiv Sena (UBT).

“We are happy I have been chosen as the leader… I will live up to the party’s expectations… We will accept whatever our leader Uddhav Thackeray says… We will continue our effort to make the mayor.”

Mayoral Reservation List Under General Category 

Under the General category, mayoral posts have been allotted to the following municipal corporations: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Navi Mumbai, Vasai–Virar, Bhiwandi–Nizampur, Mira–Bhayander, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded–Waghala, Amravati, Parbhani, Malegaon, Solapur, Dhule, and Sangli–Miraj–Kupwad.

Under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation, mayoral posts have been earmarked for Ahilyanagar, Akola, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Ichalkaranji, Panvel and Ulhasnagar. Of these, Ahilyanagar, Akola, Chandrapur and Jalgaon will have women mayors, while the remaining corporations may have either women or men.

For the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, mayoral posts have been reserved in Thane, Kalyan–Dombivli, Latur and Jalna. While Thane allows for either a woman or man mayor, Kalyan–Dombivli is reserved for a man, and Latur and Jalna for women.

What It Means For Mahayuti’s Numerical Strength

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the single largest party in the BMC with 89 seats. Its ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has secured 29 seats, giving the Mahayuti alliance a combined strength of 118 corporators – comfortably above the required majority.

In contrast, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is the second-largest party with 65 seats. It leads a fragmented opposition comprising the Congress, AIMIM, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Samajwadi Party. Together, these opposition parties account for 109 corporators.

However, despite Mahayuti’s numerical advantage, an ST reservation would neutralise its edge entirely.

According to Sena sources, even a Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation could work in favour of Uddhav Thackeray’s faction.

BMC Rules Offer Possible Workaround For Mumbai Mayor Elections

Observers say that BMC rules allow some flexibility in the mayoral selection process. According to these provisions, a ruling political party may nominate a corporator from an open category if a corporator from a reserved ward does not secure the mayor’s post through the reservation lottery.

Also Read: BMC Mayor Lottery Today: High-Stakes Draw To Decide Candidates In Mumbai, Other Civic Bodies