Lottery to decide reservation for Mumbai mayor's post on Jan 22

Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has set the ball rolling on the election of mayors to Mumbai and 28 other civic bodies, with the lottery for the mayoral post scheduled for January 22.

The Urban Development Department has issued an order stating that the draw of lots will be held at the state secretariat.

In Maharashtra, mayors are elected by corporators, and the post is subject to reservation by rotation.

The lottery determines the category for which the mayor’s post will be reserved, such as general, women, SC, ST, and OBC categories. Once the category is announced, eligible candidates file their nominations.

Subsequently, the election is conducted in a special meeting of the elected corporators of the municipal corporation. The candidate who secures votes of more than half of the total strength of the House is elected mayor.

In the event of a single party getting a clear majority, alliances play a decisive role.

In Mumbai, the BJP has emerged as the largest single party in the elections held on January 15, winning 89 of the total 227 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), wresting control of the country's richest civic body from the Thackerays after nearly 30 years.

BJP's ally, Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, secured 29 seats.

Speculation over political realignments for the mayoral post emerged after the results showed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as the second largest party, winning 65 seats, while its ally MNS got six.

Among other parties, the Congress won 24 seats, the AIMIM 8, Ajit Pawar-led NCP 3, the Samajwadi Party 2, and the NCP (SP) one seat.

The Ajit Pawar-led party, despite being a member of the BJP-led Mahayuti, had contested the BMC polls separately.

Though largely ceremonial, the Mumbai mayor’s post is a symbol of the political dominance of the governing party. The mayor presides over key civic meetings.

Kishori Pednekar of Shiv Sena (UBT) was the last mayor of Mumbai before the state government appointed an administrator in 2022.

In the elections held across 29 municipal corporations, the BJP won the highest number of 1,425 seats out of 2,869, the Shiv Sena 399, and the NCP 167.

The Congress won the maximum 324 seats in the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Shiv Sena-UBT bagged 155 seats, the MNS 13, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 36, BSP six, and Independents 19.

The unrecognised parties registered with the State Election Commission, like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, got 196 seats, while the Samajwadi Party and AIMIM won 129. PTI MR NSK