Mumbai mayor: Nominations to be filed on February 7; polls on February 11; BJP-Sena well placed to win

Mumbai: Nominations for the post of Mumbai mayor will be filed on February 7, while elections connected to it will take place on February 11, though none of the parties have announced names of candidates as yet.

In the January 15 polls to the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while its ally Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 29 seats. The ruling alliance, with a combined strength of 118 corporators, is past the halfway mark of 114 and is well placed to secure the mayor's post.

The Shiv Sena (UBT), which ruled the civic body for 25 years since 1997, won 65 seats, while its allies, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), won six and one seat, respectively.

Mumbai's next mayor will be a woman corporator from the general category, as decided through a lottery conducted by the state Urban Development Department last month, an official said.

A newly elected BJP corporator, who did not wish to be named, told PTI that all corporators have been asked to reach the BMC headquarters in south Mumbai wearing saffron-coloured clothes, such as sarees and kurtas, on Saturday at 10 am.

The BJP also performed a puja at its new office allotted at the BMC headquarters on Friday morning. A large number of newly elected BJP candidates and party activists were present on the occasion.

Among other parties, the Congress won 24 seats, AIMIM eight, the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) three, and the Samajwadi Party two. Two independent candidates also won in the high-stakes election, held after a nine-year gap.

The BMC commissioner has been serving as the state government-appointed administrator since March 7, 2022, following the end of the previous term.

The BMC is the country's richest civic body, with its budget for the 2025-26 pegged at Rs 74,450 crore, which is higher than that of some smaller states.