Mumbai will get its new Mayor on Wednesday. The election for the post will take place at 12 pm at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters in Fort. Soon after the Mayor is elected, voting for the Deputy Mayor will also be held. The election is expected to be smooth, as no other party has fielded candidates for the two posts.
BJP’s Ritu Tawde likely to be elected mayor
The BJP has nominated Ritu Tawde for the Mayor’s post, while Shiv Sena has named Sanjay Ghadigaonkar for Deputy Mayor. Both candidates are almost certain to win as their alliance has the required majority in the 227-member civic body. Ritu Tawde is a corporator from Ward 132. Sanjay Ghadi was elected from Ward 5 in the civic polls held on January 15.
Big moment for BJP
This election is politically important for the BJP. The BMC is the richest municipal corporation in the country. For nearly 25 years, the undivided Shiv Sena controlled the civic body after coming to power in 1997.
Now, after almost three decades, the BJP is set to lead the BMC. Ritu Tawde will become Mumbai’s 77th Mayor and only the second BJP corporator to hold the post. The first BJP Mayor was Dr. Prabhakar Pai, who served from 1982 to 1983.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar will be present for the election. This will be Sunetra Pawar’s first visit to the BMC headquarters after becoming Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister.
How the numbers stand in BMC
In the recent 227-member BMC election, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats. Shiv Sena won 29 seats. Together, the ruling alliance has 118 corporators, crossing the majority mark of 114. Shiv Sena (UBT), which ruled the BMC for 25 years, won 65 seats. Its allies MNS and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) won six and one seats respectively. Among other parties, Congress secured 24 seats, AIMIM won eight, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) got three, and Samajwadi Party won two seats. Two Independent candidates were also elected.
With clear numbers on its side, the BJP-led alliance is now ready to take control of Mumbai’s civic body.
