Mumbai will have a female mayor for the second consecutive term after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was placed in the Open (Women) category in the lottery draw for mayoral reservations held on Thursday. The previous BMC mayor was Kishori Pednekar of the undivided Shiv Sena party.
The reservation draw, held for 29 municipal corporations that went to the polls last week, sparked objections from the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), which questioned the exclusion of Bombay from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation list. The Congress also expressed concern over the draw of reservations for Parbhani.
Of the 29 municipal corporations, one post of mayor has been reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. However, as per the regulations, no post has been allotted to the ST (Women) category. Three seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), of which two are reserved for SC (Women). Eight seats have been reserved for the OBC category, four of them for OBC (Women).
Of the remaining 17 corporations, nine mayoral posts have been reserved for the General Category (Women), while the remaining eight posts belong to the Open (General) category.
Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), where Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has joined the Eknath ShindeUddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) will have the only ST mayor in the state. Thane, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s turf, will have a mayor from the scheduled caste category.
All major cities of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur will have female mayors. The BJP is likely to have mayors in all three cities.
Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal, who oversaw the lottery process, said objections raised by opposition parties had been noted, but maintained that the draw was carried out strictly according to the law and in a transparent manner.
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Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) questioned why Mumbai was excluded from the OBC reservation draw. Former Mumbai mayor and party leader Kishori Pednekar pointed out that in 2017 and 2019, the post of Mumbai mayor was reserved in the Open category. “As per the rotation system, this time the post should have been included in the OBC lottery. The government has insulted the OBCs by deliberately denying them this opportunity,” he alleged.
Pednekar further accused the government of introducing a new rule to prevent a scheduled tribe candidate from becoming mayor. “The rule requires a corporation to have at least three ST corporations to be eligible for ST reservation. When was this rule introduced? It was done only to benefit the ruling side,” he said.
Misal rejected the allegations and said the objections raised by the Thackeray group were not in accordance with the rules. “They want reservations based on their demand, which cannot be done,” he said.
Wise List of Reserva Mayoral Cities
Explaining the reason for the draw, Misal said eight mayoral posts were to be reserved for OBCs based on population norms. “Out of 29 corporations, after excluding those that had already received OBC reservation in previous periods, only three remained, one of which Jalna was already reserved for the scheduled castes. The remaining six were selected alphabetically,” he said.
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He added that ST reservation can only be applied in municipal corporations with more than three ST corporations and the government has acted strictly according to the laid down rules.
Since the next Mumbai mayoral post will go to women in the open category, candidates have started putting pressure on state leaders to boost the former.
BJP state president Ravindra Chavan said, “The final decision on the next mayoral post will be taken after CM Devendra Fadnavis returns from Davos to Mumbai on January 24.”
In the recently concluded BMC polls for 227 candidates, the total women candidates from all parties stand at 123. The BJP won 89 seats, of which 49 were women.
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Six candidates who are favorites to contest the mayor’s post are: Rajashree Shirvadkar (ward no. 172); Sheetal Gambhir (ward no. 190); Asha Marathe (ward no. 152); Harshita Narwekar (ward no. 125), Ritu Tawde (ward no. 132); Alka Kerkar (98th district).
A BJP source said, “The most important criterion for selecting the next mayor would be the image of the individual and his loyalty to the organisation. The ability of the individual to work hard and connect with the people throughout the year.”
