New Delhi: The recent elections to the high-voltage Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) grabbed the eyeballs of the rest of the nation. There have been speculations about who is going to be the mayor of BMC, the richest civic body in India.
Mumbai to get a female mayor?
In a major turn of events on Thursday, the draw process for the top post in 29 corporations was held. The rotational system states that Mumbai will get a female mayor from the general category. On the other hand, Thane and Bhiwandi- Nizampur may reportedly have mayor from the SC category.
The lottery was conducted by state Urban Development Department, according to the break-ups of the 29 mayoral positions of the municipal corporations in the state, 17 positions are reserved for General category, including nine positions for women. Not just Mumbai, but Chandrapur, Ichalkaranji, Akola and Jalgaon will have women mayors, albeit from the OBC category.
Also, other major civic bodies that fall under the general category include PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad), Pune, Bhiwandi and Dhule. These places will have women mayors, and so will have Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Nanded and Mira Bhayandar.
Lottery system raises new row
Shiv Sena (UBT) has slammed the process of the lottery system and alleged that the reservation exercise profits the ruling alliance who rigged the system. Former mayor Kishori Pednekar of Sena (UBT) has reportedly said, “If there was a rotation policy, then why was BMC excluded? The lottery was conducted keeping in mind the winning corporators of the ruling party. Despite our objections, the state government proceeded with the lottery. This is a grave injustice to OBCs. In the rotation, BMC should have been reserved for OBC women or ST women. Instead, it violated rules, as BJP doesn’t have any ST women corporators in BMC. ST corporators’ rights were denied.”
The municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra has seen many twists and turns in recent times. Now, in another move which has surprised everyone, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is reportedly planning to join hands with the newly elected corporators of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in the Kalyan Dombivli municipal corporation to wrest power from the BJP, its ally in the Mahayuti camp.