Speaking on Monday, Shinde said several Shiv Sainiks believe the civic body should be led by a Shiv Sena mayor during the centenary year of Bal Thackeray, who founded the party and shaped Mumbai’s municipal politics for decades. However, he was careful to add that any decision would respect the public mandate and alliance dynamics. Shinde recalled that the BMC elections were contested by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena as allies, and reiterated that in municipal corporations where both parties fought together, the mayor would be from the Mahayuti.
The statement comes days after Shinde met all 29 corporators of his party at a hotel in Bandra on January 18. The Shiv Sena said the gathering was an orientation programme to familiarise newly elected corporators with the functioning of the BMC, India’s richest civic body.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations, including the BMC, were held on January 15, with results declared a day later. In the 227-member BMC, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, followed by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena with 29. The majority mark to elect the mayor is 114, leaving the BJP dependent on support from at least 25 corporators of its ally.
The process for electing the mayor is set to begin soon. A lottery to determine whether the mayor’s post will be reserved for a specific category—open, SC/ST, OBC or women—is scheduled for January 22, with the notification to be issued the same day or shortly after. Owing to the mandatory seven-day notice period, the mayoral election is expected on January 29 or 30. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to return from Switzerland on January 24, ahead of the crucial vote.
Political reactions have been swift. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the BJP might also move its corporators to a “safe location,” questioning the anxiety within the ruling camp. Shinde faction leader Sanjay Nirupam asserted that the next mayor would be from the Mahayuti, effectively ruling out the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction.
On the opposition side, Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS and NCP (SP) together hold 72 seats, while Congress, AIMIM and the Samajwadi Party account for another 34. Even a united opposition would fall short of the majority, intensifying concerns about political manoeuvring in the days ahead.
.jpg)
