Explained: How And By When Will Mumbai Get New Mayor?

Mumbai will get a new mayor by the end of this month, following the BJP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena's big win in the BMC election. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction has lost control of the richest municipal body in the country.

We look at the process of how Mumbai would appoint its new mayor, the factors behind the decision and other related matters.

The Urban Development Department will conduct a lottery for the reservation of the mayoral post next week, sources said.

The election to select the mayor will then be held exactly 10 days after this process is completed.

Taking into account these factors, Mumbai will get a new mayor only by the end of January.

How Is Mayor Selected

The Urban Development Department determines through a lottery which category (such as general, women, backward classes, etc) the mayoral post will be reserved for.

After this, eligible candidates file their nominations.

The elected corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) then vote in a special assembly.

The candidate who gets a majority in the house, or more than half of the total corporators, is 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.

Results Summary

The BMC elections saw the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance emerge as the single largest bloc, beating the Thackeray brothers. According to official figures, the BJP won 89 seats, while its alliance partner got 29 seats. Mahayuti also swept Thane, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad among the total 29 civic bodies for which elections were held.

"... The BJP has secured a record victory for the first time in Mumbai, in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, one of the world's largest municipal corporations, which is a significant development in Maharashtra politics," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a public meeting in West Bengal's Malda.