2 minutes of readingJanuary 19, 2026 22:29 IST
Amid the ongoing uncertainty over mayoral candidates in the 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra, the lottery for reservation of the seat will be held on January 22.
The Urban Development Department (UDD) of the Maharashtra government on Monday released the schedule for the lottery process, which will be held at Mantralaya. The draw will decide the reservation for the position of mayor of all municipal corporations. It will decide whether the post is open or reserved for women, OBC, Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST).
After the announcement of the reservation for the post of mayor, the municipal commissioner will convene the chamber where the election of the mayor will be held, if necessary. The candidate with the highest number of votes will be declared the winner.
According to UDD sources, the bulletin confirming the results of the municipal corporations will be published on Monday night.
After its publication, political parties in cities that are likely to have a tight contest for the post of mayor will take their corporations to the office of the district collector or divisional commissioner for registration of the group within the civic body.
“Once registered as a group, the corporators will have to follow the whip issued by the group leader. This prevents them from changing sides at the time of the mayoral election. For any split in the future, it will have to be approved by at least two-thirds of the corporators,” said a UDD official.
Bombay Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad on Monday said that Mumbai Congress corporators will go to the divisional commissioner’s office on Tuesday to register as a group. Other similar parties will also do the same.
According to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), the body’s work ends once the elections are held and the results are declared. “We are not concerned with the conduct of mayoral elections. It is the urban development department that is concerned with it,” said an SEC official.