The 133-year-old heritage hall in the iconic Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters was readied this week to welcome its elected representatives. After a gap of over four years, the opulent chamber, featuring Burma Teak wood, gold-leaf motifs, and colonial-era chandeliers, once again hosted corporators. Among them was Mumbai’s 78th Mayor, Ritu Tawde, who walked in with a saffron turban, draped in a saffron sari. She took charge from the administrator and BMC Commissioner, Bhushan Gagrani.
Ms. Tawde, 53, became the second BJP mayor and the eighth woman mayor of South Asia’s richest civic body. She is an assertive, young, Marathi, Maratha, Konkani woman face of the BJP from the Gujarati-dominated Ghatkopar area, which has traditionally voted for the party. The two-term corporator takes charge as Mumbai’s mayor, a largely titular yet socially significant position, amid challenging times.
Though this is the first time the BJP has emerged as the largest party in the BMC, it does not command a majority on its own. In the 227-member House, it holds 89 corporators. Its ally, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, has secured 29 seats. This is significantly lower than the tally of the Shiv Sena group led by Uddhav Thackeray, which contested the BMC for the first time since the 2022 split. Uddhav Thackeray fought against the collective might of the BJP and Shiv Sena and won 65 seats. With this, his party has become the principal Opposition, comprising several experienced faces. Notably, four former mayors of Mumbai are part of the Shiv Sena UBT’s ranks in the BMC. In contrast, the BJP has one of the highest numbers of newcomers.
