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. The process will determine reservations for mayors across 29 municipal corporations in the state, including the BMC.
The possibility that Mumbai’s mayoral post could be reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category has sparked intense political speculation, as it could dramatically alter the balance of power within the civic body.
Mumbai Mayor Lottery: Will There Be ST Reservation?
Both wards reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category – ward 53 and ward 121 – were won by candidates from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction).
In ward 53, UBT candidate Jitendra Walve defeated Shinde Sena’s Ashok Khandve. In ward 121, Priyadarshani Thackeray secured a victory over Shinde Sena’s Pratima Khopde.
If the mayor’s post is reserved for the ST category, the Uddhav Sena would gain a decisive edge, as the ruling Mahayuti alliance does not have a single ST corporator. Under such circumstances, the mayoral election would not be determined by numerical strength alone.
Out of the BMC’s total strength of 227 members, 114 votes are required to elect a mayor.
Mahayuti’s Numerical Strength vs Reservation Risk in Mumbai Mayor Lottery
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.
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
