Despite intense political speculation in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) supporters believe the party could still stake claim to the mayor’s post even if it does not emerge as the single largest party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The belief hinges on the unique rotational reservation system followed for the Mumbai mayoral election. The category of the mayor’s post whether women, Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBC) is decided through a lottery conducted by the Urban Development Department. Only after this lottery are political parties allowed to announce their candidates. The draw is scheduled for tomorrow.
This time, the mayor’s post will not be open to the general category, as the outgoing mayor, Kishori Pednekar, belonged to that group. Officials say population criteria are used while allotting category reservations, though several technical aspects will only become clear once the lottery is held.
The ST category has emerged as a key talking point. Mumbai’s ST population stands at around 1.29 lakh, and only two corporator seats were reserved for STs in the recent BMC elections. Significantly, only Shiv Sena (UBT) managed to win both ST seats one male and one female while the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena did not secure a single ST corporator.
Both ST winners from Shiv Sena (UBT), Jitendra Walvi and Deepmala Baban Badhe, are Marathi. Given that all major parties had promised a “Marathi mayor” during the campaign, political observers say backing a non-Marathi candidate would be difficult.
If the lottery assigns the mayor’s post to the ST category, Shiv Sena (UBT) could therefore be the only party in a position to field an eligible Marathi ST candidate. While other parties do have Marathi SC leaders, they lack representation in the ST category.
UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray has openly expressed his ambition of installing a Shiv Sena (UBT) mayor in Mumbai, telling party workers that it remains his dream one he hopes will soon be realised.
