Mumbai BMC Mayor Elections: The election for the next Mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is scheduled to take place on February 11. The mayoral election process will begin on February 6 with the filing of nominations.
Candidates have until February 11 to withdraw their names, which is also the same day the election will be conducted and concluded, NDTV reported. The announcement of the election timeline has intensified political activity within political parties, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as the single largest with 89 seats in the recent Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Mumbai To Get A Woman Mayor From General Category
Following the lottery process conducted by the State Urban Development Department, this year’s mayoral seat was reserved for a woman from the general category. The lottery system determines the category for which the mayoral seat is reserved, including General, SC, ST, and OBC.
With the category now officially set, eligible councillors from the general category will file their nominations from February 6, NDTV report added
Mumbai Mayor Row
The general category reservation for the mayor post proved to be a setback for the Shiv Sena (UBT), which had hoped the seat would be reserved for a Scheduled Tribe (ST) woman. Such a reservation would have favoured the party, as both eligible women councillors in the ST category both belonged to Uddhav Thackeray’s party.
Following the Maharashtra civic body election last week, Thackeray had shared, "If God is willing", Mumbai would get a mayor from his party. However, those hopes were dashed once the lottery reserved the mayor's post for the general category.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, along with her party, raised objections to the lottery process, alleging that the rules were changed without notice and manipulated to favour the state's ruling parties.