Mumbai's mayoral race moved a step forward after the completion of the Urban Development Department's lottery process to determine reservation categories for key municipal posts.
The Mumbai Mayor's post has been reserved for a candidate from the General Category, and the mayor will be a woman.
The department conducts this lottery to decide whether the mayoral post will fall under categories such as general, women, or backward classes.
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.
She said the last two mayors were from the general category, so the new mayor should have been from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) or the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, PTI reported.
"We condemn the way the procedure (of lottery) was conducted," Pednekar said.
What General Category Means for Candidate Choice?
With the seat in the open category, there is no compulsion to meet any caste‑based equation. Parties can field their strongest and most popular woman corporator directly. In Mumbai, where the BMC has long been a stronghold for Shiv Sena, being in the open category is expected to push all sides to back the woman candidate who has the widest public connect.
What Happens Next?
Eligible candidates from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now proceed to file their nominations. Following this, elected corporators will vote in a special assembly, where the candidate securing a majority, more than half of the total corporators, will be elected mayor.
If no party has a clear majority, then the role of alliances becomes crucial. Given the current political equations and the results of the BMC elections, the possibility of a split or defection in the race for the mayor's post cannot be ruled out.
