Overview
- Nomination filing opens on February 7, withdrawals close on February 11, and the BMC will vote at 12 pm on February 11 with Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani presiding under newly amended rules.
- The BJP has 89 seats and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has 29, giving their alliance 118 in the 227-member House, above the 114 required for a majority.
- Party discussions indicate the BJP is likely to take the mayor’s post while the Shinde Sena is expected to get the deputy mayor and a share of key committee chairs, with final decisions to follow senior leaders’ meeting on February 6.
- Reported BJP contenders for the mayoral nomination include Alka Kerkar, Rajshree Shirwadkar, Tejasvee Ghosalkar, Ritu Tawde and Sheetal Gambhir, while Shiv Sena’s Trushna Vishwasrao and Yamini Jadhav are seen as leading options for deputy mayor.
- All 227 corporators have completed registration, the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena may still field candidates despite lacking the numbers, and across the MMR several cities have chosen women mayors, including Navi Mumbai where BJP’s Sujata Patil and Dashrath Bhagat were elected unopposed.