Mumbai will elect a new Mayor on 11 February, with voting for the post scheduled at 12 pm at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters. The election for Deputy Mayor will be conducted immediately thereafter. The election is expected to be uncontested as no other party has fielded a candidate.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the country’s wealthiest civic body and the administrative authority of India’s financial capital, will have a new Mayor, with Bharatiya Janata Party councillor Ritu Tawde set to be elected unopposed. The Bharatiya Janata Party will return to the post after approximately 44 years, ending the 25-year tenure of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) in control of the corporation.
The mayoral election will be held at the BMC headquarters at 12 pm on Wednesday, followed immediately by the Deputy Mayor’s election. With no opposition party nominating a candidate, both elections are expected to be uncontested.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has installed saffron posters outside the BMC headquarters to mark the occasion, describing it as the beginning of a “Suvarna Adhyay.” The posters prominently feature Ritu Tawde as the incoming Mayor.
Ritu Tawde represents Ward 132 and will become the first woman Mayor of the BMC from the Bharatiya Janata Party. She will be Mumbai’s 77th Mayor. The last BJP Mayor was Dr. Prabhakar Pai, who held the post in 1982–83. For the Deputy Mayor’s post, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) has nominated Sanjay Ghadhi, recently elected from Ward 5. The ruling alliance holds a clear majority, and both candidates are expected to be elected unopposed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the state’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar will be present at the BMC headquarters for the proceedings. This will be Sunetra Pawar’s first visit to the BMC headquarters.
The undivided Shiv Sena had taken control of the BMC in 1997 and governed it for nearly three decades. The return of the BJP-led alliance marks a change in the civic administration.
Ritu Tawde’s tenure will begin at a time when Mumbai is facing challenges related to infrastructure, transport, waste management, water supply, and urban planning.
In the 227-member BMC, the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party in the recent elections with 89 seats. Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) secured 29 seats. Together, the ruling alliance has 118 councillors, exceeding the majority mark of 114. Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats, while its ally Maharashtra Navnirman Sena secured 6 seats and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) won 1 seat. The Congress secured 24 seats, AIMIM won 8 seats, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) won 3 seats, and the Samajwadi Party secured 2 seats. Two independent councillors were also elected.
