Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Jan 22: The process to determine mayoral posts in 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra began at the Mantralaya on Thursday, amid heightened political anticipation over Mumbai’s mayoral seat.

As per the rotational system, Mumbai is set to get an open-category woman mayor, while Thane and Bhiwandi-Nizampur are expected to have mayors from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) raised objections, alleging that the reservation exercise was rigged to benefit the ruling alliance. “The government changed the rules for the ST category at the last minute. Mumbai was deliberately excluded from the ST category, as only Sena-UBT has two councillors from this category in the city,” said former mayor Kishori Pednekar.

• Mayoral posts in Ichalkaranji, Ahilyanagar, Kolhapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Akola, Panvel, and Ulhasnagar have been reserved for the OBC category, with Chandrapur, Ichalkaranji, Akola, and Jalgaon expected to have women mayors.

• In total, 17 municipal corporations will have mayors from the open category, of which nine posts are reserved for women. Major cities in the open category include Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC), and Nagpur.

• Women mayors are also set for PCMC, Pune, Bhiwandi, Dhule, Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Nanded, and Mira Bhayandar.

Responding to the allegations, Madhuri Misal, Minister of State for Urban Development and chair of the draw process, said the objections had been noted but dismissed Sena (UBT)’s claims as lacking merit. “The party wanted the reservation convenient to them. The process was conducted as per the rules,” she stated.

The law mandates rotational reservation for SC, ST, OBC, and women candidates. The lottery for reservation must be completed before the statutory procedure for the mayoral election begins.

Following the reservation announcement, the BMC House will convene a special meeting to notify members of the mayoral election schedule, with voting expected around January 28 or 29.