It's official. Mumbai's next mayor will be a woman from general category, as per draw of lots conducted by the Maharashtra Urban Development Department, news agency PTI reported on Thursday citing officials.
The lottery, a pre-condition for picking a Mayor for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), determines the category for which the mayor's post will be reserved, such as general, women, SC, ST, and OBC categories.
Now that the category is announced, eligible candidates (all women) will file their nominations for the Mayoral post.
Shiv Sena (UBT) cries foul
The procedure was, however, opposed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, who claimed that the rules to arrive at this decision were changed without informing anyone.
Pednekar said the last two mayors of Mumbai were from the general category, and asserted that the new mayor should have been from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) or the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
"We condemn the way the procedure (of lottery) was conducted," Pednekar was quoted as saying by PTI.
Pednekar, who won from Ward number 199 in BMC, was elected the leader of Shiv Sena UBT corporators on Wednesday. She had defeated Rupal Kusale of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction).
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won 25 of 29 municipal corporations, including the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), ending Shiv Sena's nearly three-decade dominance over the Mumbai's local body.
Apart from Mumbai, Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune, Bhiwandi and Dhule will have women mayors from the open category, as will Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Nanded and Mira Bhayandar will also have women mayors from the open category.
Elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and 28 other civic bodies in Maharashtra were held on January 15, and the Mahayuti alliance swept the polls.
In Mumbai, the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance ended the Thackeray family’s nearly three-decade-long control over the country’s richest municipal body, winning 89 and 29 seats respectively.
