Mumbai: After the municipality election results were announced last Friday, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the discussions have started on lottery for the reservation in Mayor post. The lottery reservation is a system through which a decision is taken on whether the post will be open for the general category or will be reserved for women or any particular caste. The decision for the category of next mayor will be made on January 22.
As per the constitution, the Mayor’s post is reserved to ensure social justice and equal representation in local self-governing bodies. The step is taken to ensure that every section of society gets a leadership opportunity. The government does not make the decision directly, but it is decided through lottery.
How does the lottery process work?
The lottery process is organised by the Urban Development Department of the Maharashtra Government. The lottery system is conducted in all 29 municipalities. Importantly, for each municipal corporation, a reservation roster is determined. The next sequence is decided based on which category held the Mayor’s post in the previous term.
The lottery system is extremely transparent. The names of all the municipal corporations are kept separately. In separate boxes, slips for OBC, SC, ST, and women categories are placed. The draw is conducted in the presence of government officials. After this, the decision is taken on the category under which the next mayor would be selected. In this case, for the mayor of Mumbai, Thane, Mumbai or Navi Mumbai. As per the rule, the corporators elected from different wards will be eligible for the Mayor’s role.
Why is politics so heated in this matter?
This year, the politics have heated up for the BMC mayor post as strategies of parties like BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and Shiv Sena (UBT) depend on the reservation. If a woman/SC/OBC reservation comes into effect, many contenders will automatically be out of the race.
Party positions in recent BMC polls
As per the results announced for BMC elections this year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) 29 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) – 65 seats, MNS 6, Sharad Pawar (NCP) 1, Congress 24 seats, Samajwadi Party 2, AMIM 8, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) 3 seats. The majority mark was 114, which the BJP-led alliance achieved.