Mumbai, February 11 – Ritu Tawde, a corporator from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was elected as the 78th Mayor of Mumbai on Wednesday, marking the end of the Shiv Sena's 25-year-long dominance in the post and signifying a significant shift in power within the administration of Mumbai, India's wealthiest municipal body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Tawde, who was elected from a ward in the suburban area of Ghatkopar last month, became the second BJP corporator to hold the prestigious position in 44 years. Sanjay Ghadi, a corporator from the Shiv Sena (UBT), who is an ally of the BJP, was elected as the deputy mayor.
Tawde (53) and Ghadi (57) were elected unopposed at a special meeting of the general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) following the January 15 municipal elections. Both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and other opposition parties did not field any candidates.
The mayoral position was reserved for a woman. The city's first BJP mayor was Prabhakar Pai in 1982-83. Tawde's election on Wednesday marked the end of the Thackeray family's long-standing control over Mumbai's civic politics.
Although the mayoral position is largely ceremonial, it carries significant political and symbolic importance in Mumbai's identity-driven politics. Bhushan Gagrani, the municipal commissioner who had been acting as the state-appointed administrator of the BMC since the previous general body's term ended in March 2022, chaired the meeting.
Key figures present at the BMC headquarters included Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, his deputy Eknath Shinde, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, and other leaders from the BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Shinde.
Amidst slogans from both the ruling BJP-led alliance and the opposition, Tawde took over her duties.
Tawde was elected from ward 132, while Ghadi was elected from ward 5 in the last month's elections. The mayoral election, which was essentially a formality given the lack of opposition candidates, was held in the BMC's historic Committee Hall. Gagrani conducted the proceedings.
Congress corporators claimed they were not provided with adequate seating space during the proceedings. As a result, they stood during the proceedings and raised slogans while Tawde was delivering her speech, and later staged a walkout.
Corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT) also staged a walkout while Deputy Mayor Ghadi was delivering his speech.
Prior to that, Kishori Pednekar, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) group, objected to the proceedings after the mayoral election concluded, raising a point of order.
"We have several senior corporators in our midst. Shraddha Jadhav (Shiv Sena-UBT) has been elected for the seventh time. Corporators from all parties will work together for the development of the city, but we object to the commissioner being placed on the dais as the presiding officer instead of a senior corporator, as stipulated by the rules," Pednekar said while addressing the media.
Tawde alleged that some opposition corporators made inappropriate comments during her speech.
"Inappropriate remarks were made about me, which shows their lack of sensitivity towards women," Tawde said in response to a question during an interaction with reporters after the proceedings concluded.
Tawde maintained that the opposition was more interested in creating disruption than working for the citizens of Mumbai.
Earlier in the day, corporators from the BJP and Shiv Sena paid floral tributes at Hutatma Chowk, a memorial in south Mumbai commemorating those who died in the struggle for statehood for Maharashtra.
In the elections to the 227-member BMC last month, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena won 29 seats. The ruling alliance (with 118 seats) thus crossed the halfway mark of 114.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray won 65 seats, while its allies Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won six and one seats, respectively.
The undivided Shiv Sena headed by the Thackeray family had ruled the civic body for 25 years since 1997.
Tawde, who was originally with the Congress, joined the BJP in 2012 and was elected as a corporator from Ghatkopar area in the same year. She has served as chairperson of the BMC's education committee.
She was in the spotlight during her previous term for raising concerns about the "inappropriate" clothing of mannequins in shops.
Tawde lost to the Shiv Sena candidate from Ghatkopar East in the 2017 civic elections.
After joining the BJP, she held key positions in the party's women's wing. She has organized awareness drives on sanitation and hygiene, and supported self-employment initiatives under central and state programs. Tawde has also been vocal on issues concerning the safety and dignity of women and has led protests regarding incidents affecting school students and local residents.
