Bhartiya Janta Party corporator Ritu Tawde has been elected unopposed as Mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday(February 11), marking the first time in four decades that the post has gone to the BJP. The election became uncontested after Shiv Sena UBT chose not to field a candidate, bringing an end to the Thackeray family’s 25-year control of Mumbai’s richest civic body.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Ghadi has been elected as the Deputy Mayor. He will hold the post for a 15-month term. Shiv Sena has decided to split the Deputy Mayor’s tenure among four of its corporators. Ghadi was among the leaders who switched allegiance to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, a move that led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Also Read |Mumbai BMC Election Results 2026: Full List of Who Won, Who Lost Across Wards
A three-term corporator from Ghatkopar West, 53-year-old Tawde has over a decade of experience in grassroots politics and civic administration. Tawde first entered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in 2012 after being elected from Ward 127. She was re-elected in 2017 from Ward 121 in Ghatkopar. In the civic elections held on January 15, she secured victory again from Ward 132.
Apart from her role as corporator, Tawde has also served as Chairperson of the Education Committee of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, where she was involved in policy oversight and civic education initiatives.
The results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections on January 16 placed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) alliance in a commanding position. BJP emerged as the single largest party with89 seats in the BMC House of 227, however, it fell short of a majority on its own.
Its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), secured 29 seats, making the BJP-Shinde alliance as the largest bloc in the BMC. On the other side, the Shiv Sena (UBT), contesting in alliance with the MNS, won 65 seats, while MNS won 6.
The Indian National Congress (INC) secured 24 seats. Other parties’ performance included the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) winning 8 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 3 seats, the Samajwadi Party 2 seats, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) 1 seat.
The high-stakes civic elections were conducted after a nine-year hiatus, during which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was run by a state government-appointed administrator. The administrator took charge on March 7, 2022, after the previous elected body’s term came to an end.
The BMC is the country’s wealthiest civic body, with its budget for 2025–26 estimated at Rs 74,450 crore.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
