MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Kishori Pednekar, an ex-mayor, claimed the lottery was rigged and the ST category was excluded allegedly with the introduction of a rule that there would have to be at least three ST corporators for the lottery to consider an ST quota. She claimed this was done because in the new BMC House, only the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) has elected corporators from two ST-reserved wards. The UBT Sena was hoping to get a chance to obtain the mayor’s post if the reservation went in favour of an ST candidate.
She said for the last two terms, reservation in Mumbai was for a mayor from the general category. “So far there has not been reservation for an OBC woman. Injustice has been done to OBCs,” she alleged. However, BJP minister Madhuri Misal rejected the allegations and was quoted by PTI as saying that the procedure was completed in accordance with law.The draw, held for 29 corporations, was announced in the presence of minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal, BJP’s Rajesh Shirwadkar, Kishori Pednekar and MLA Manoj Jamsutkar, and NCP’s Anand Paranjape.According to the reservation results, 8 other corporations — Pune, Dhule, Nanded-Waghala, Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Mira-Bhayander, Nagpur and Nashik — will have women mayors from the general category. Of other places in MMR, Thane will have an ST mayor, Kalyan-Dombivli an ST, Panvel and Ulhasnagar will have OBCs, and Vasai-Virar and Bhiwandi-Nizampur will have mayors from the general category.
Out of the 29 corporations, 17 will have mayors from the general category (9 of them women), 8 will be OBCs (4 of them women), 3 will be SCs (2 of them women), while in one corporation, the reservation is for an ST corporator. With implementation of 50% women’s quota, the mayor’s posts in 15 municipal corporations are reserved for them.Among the frontrunners in BJP for the Mumbai mayor’s post now are Ritu Tawde, Sheetal Gambhir, Rajashree Shirwadkar, Asha Marathe, Priti Satam and Shrikala Pillai. The post is likely to go to a Marathi face; the party had said the mayor will be a Marathi-speaking person.Pednekar said rights of ST corporators had been denied. “If there was a rotation policy in place, why did they keep BMC out of it? Reservation should have been for OBC women or ST women. This was not done as BJP doesn’t have any ST women corporators,” she claimed. Ahead of civic polls, two wards – no. 53 and no. 121 – were reserved for ST candidates. Both the seats were won by UBT Sena.Sena ahead but BJP too in race for Thane mayorThe tussle for Thane mayor’s post intensified after the seat was reserved for SC category, setting off manoeuvring in Mahayuti. The reservation came after over two decades. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has a majority in the 131-member TMC with 75 corporators, well above the halfway mark of 66. Alliance partner BJP has 28 seats. The historical context added weight to the contest, as the last SC mayor, Manohar Gadhve, was a close aide of late Anand Dighe. BJP, despite being junior partner, staked its claim. Navi Mumbai set to get woman mayor after 15 yrsNavi Mumbai is set to get a woman mayor after a gap of 15 years with reservation being for a woman from the general category. This will be Navi Mumbai’s fifth woman mayor. The last woman mayor was Anjani Bhoir, from 2007 to 2010. Sushma Dande was the first woman mayor of Navi Mumbai in 1996, followed by Vijaya Mhatre in 1998, Manisha Bhoir in 2005, and later Anjani Bhoir. They all belonged to the party led by Ganesh Naik, who is now with the BJP. The Panvel mayor’s post is reserved for the OBC categor this time, according to the draw of lots
