Ending days of suspense over the Mumbai mayor’s post, the Mahayuti alliance has finally announced its candidate. BJP’s Ritu Tawde has been chosen as the next Mayor of Mumbai, while Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shankar Ghadi has been nominated as Deputy Mayor.
The elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and 28 other civic bodies in Maharashtra were held on January 15. In the BMC polls, the BJP won 89 seats and the Shiv Sena, led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, secured 29 seats. Together, the alliance crossed the halfway mark of 144 seats needed to control the civic body.
On January 22, a lottery was held to decide the category of mayoral posts. For Mumbai, it was decided that the mayor would be a woman from the General category. Along with Mumbai, cities like Pune, Dhule, Nanded-Waghala and Navi Mumbai also got women mayors from the General category.
Despite having a clear majority, the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance remained cautious due to fears of last-minute defections. Soon after the elections, controversy erupted when the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena moved its corporators to a hotel in Bandra.
The period after the elections saw frequent shifts in political alignments, adding to the uncertainty before the mayoral decision. Tensions rose further after Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) extended support to the Shiv Sena in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.
At the same time, the BJP and the Congress accused each other of trying to lure corporators from rival parties, adding to the political drama surrounding the civic polls.