The process of deciding reservation categories for mayoral posts across Maharashtra’s 29 municipal corporations has begun, with the Urban Development Department conducting a state-level lottery to finalise leadership categories for the new civic term. One of the most significant outcomes of the draw is that Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be led by a woman mayor from the General category.
The lottery system determines whether the mayor’s post in each municipal corporation will be reserved for the General, Women, Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Once the category is declared, eligible corporators can file their nominations for the mayoral election. Civic polls for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations were held on January 15.
The announcement, however, triggered sharp political reactions. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) boycotted the lottery process, alleging irregularities and lack of transparency. Party leaders questioned why the mayor’s post in Mumbai once again went to the General category, arguing that rotation norms should have shifted it to an OBC or another reserved category.
Former Mumbai mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar strongly criticised the process, saying, “We condemn the way the lottery procedure was conducted. The rules appear to have been changed without any prior information.” She also expressed disappointment that the Scheduled Tribe category did not get an opportunity this term.
Officials, however, clarified that as per constitutional provisions, a municipal corporation must have at least four ST-reserved seats to allot the mayor’s post to the ST category. Mumbai has only two ST-reserved seats out of 227 corporators, making an ST mayor not permissible under the rules. The final draw has therefore officially confirmed a woman mayor from the General category for Mumbai.
Alongside Mumbai, several other major cities have also received their reservation categories through the lottery. Kalyan-Dombivli and Thane have been reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, while cities like Panvel, Kolhapur, Ulhasnagar, and Jalgaon have been allotted OBC reservations with male and female variations.
The mayoral reservation exercise comes in the backdrop of the recent municipal elections, where results were declared on January 16. The ruling Mahayuti alliance performed strongly across most civic bodies, while Congress secured a major win in Latur and the Shiv Sena (UBT)-Congress alliance emerged victorious in Parbhani.
