Mumbai News Live Updates: BMC to have a woman Mayor, Opposition questions exclusion of OBCs from reservation list

The Anti- Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai crime branch arrested gangster Ravi Pujari on Thursday in connection with a case of extortion, where he allegedly made multiple threatening calls to Bollywood choreographer Remo D’Souza and his wife.

The reservation lottery was conducted for 29 municipal corporations that went to polls last week. (File Photo)

Mumbai News Live Updates: Maharashtra government announced reservations for the posts of mayors in 29 municipal corporations on Thursday. According to the results, the mayor of India’s richest civic body will be a woman from general category. This has sparked objections from the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), which questioned the exclusion of Mumbai from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation list. The Congress also raised concerns over the reservation draw for Parbhani.

In other news, the Anti- Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai crime branch arrested gangster Ravi Pujari on Thursday in connection with a case of extortion, where he allegedly made multiple threatening calls to Bollywood choreographer Remo D’Souza and his wife. Pujari was produced in court and remanded to police custody till January 27. Pujari was extradited in 2020 from Senegal in West Africa, nearly 25 years after he left the country, and has been in jail since for multiple cases.

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Meanwhile, a 37 year old school van driver for arrested on Thursday for allegedly molesting a four year old girl. Senior inspector Kishor Shinde confirmed the arrest and said, “the accused has been arrested under the relevant section of the act including POCSO. He will be produced in the court on Friday for further investigation”.

Live Updates

Jan 23, 2026 07:06 PM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: Bombay HC warns Navi Mumbai civic chief for disregarding pollution directives

The Bombay High Court on Friday warned Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC)'s commissioner that it may pass directions preventing him from drawing his salary without the court’s permission after expressing displeasure at the civic body's “belligerent disregard” of its directives on air pollution mitigation measures.

The court also said that there had been “no sincere efforts” made by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and if the same continued, it may be required to pass similar coercive orders against its top officials too.

Jan 23, 2026 05:20 PM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: Preliminary works begin for a new Rs 848-crore cable-stayed flyover in South Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans for a new 892-metre-long cable-stayed bridge in South Mumbai. This flyover will connect the JJ Flyover with the forthcoming Y Bridge in Byculla.

Preliminary work for the project has commenced following the issuance of a work order valued at Rs 848.63 crore last month.

Preliminary work has begun following the issuance of a work order valued at Rs 848.63 crore last month.

Jan 23, 2026 02:27 PM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: From Instagram reels to civic upset: how Sahar Shaikh stunned Mumbra

A reel of a burqa clad young woman asking “Kaisa haraya”, with a glint in her eye and a taunting smirk, has gone viral on social media. Another clip from the same victory speech, in which she refers to “turning the city green”, has drawn police notices, political backlash and accusations of communalising Mumbra’s polity, catapulting her into national attention.

The woman at the centre of the controversy is 29 year old Sahar Shaikh, one of the youngest corporators elected from Mumbra in the Thane Municipal Corporation elections. Contesting on an All India Majlis e Ittehad ul Muslimeen ticket, Shaikh won from Ward No 30, defeating candidates backed by rival Nationalist Congress Party factions in what is considered a stronghold of four time local MLA Jitendra Awhad in the Kalwa Mumbra belt, an area with a dominant Muslim population.

Jan 23, 2026 02:25 PM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: Sena (UBT) corporator Sarita Mhaske denies defection buzz

Amid speculation over her absence from a group registration event at Konkan Bhavan on Wednesday, newly appointed Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Sarita Mhaske on Thursday denied reports she was in touch with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, saying she had remained with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and had gone out of Mumbai to fulfil a religious prayer vow.

Mhaske, who was elected from Chandivali’s Ward 157 on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket, had been unreachable for several hours on Wednesday at a time when the Sena UBT’s newly elected corporators were being taken to Konkan Bhavan for group registration ahead of the mayoral contest.

Jan 23, 2026 12:14 PM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: As Mumbai’s mayoral post goes to women again, a look at how reservation reshaped civic leadership

As the seat for Mumbai’s 78th Mayor got reserved for a woman candidate on Thursday, records in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) show that in the last two decades, since 2007, Mumbai has seen six different mayors, out of which four of them were female.

This year, Mumbai will see a female Mayor for the eighth time, out of which seven of them were elected only after reservation of the Mayor’s seat was introduced in the civic body in 1994.

Prior to that, the BMC had seen only one female Mayor since 1931 – the year when the designation of Mayor was officially introduced in the civic body. Prior to that, this post was called as Corporation President (1887-1931) and Chairperson (1873-1887).

Jan 23, 2026 11:57 AM IST

Mumbai News Live Updates: State signs Rs 30L cr investment commitment at Davos: CM

Maharashtra has received investment commitments worth Rs 30 lakh crore in diverse sectors at the World Economic Forum summit held at Switzerland in Davos, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Thursday.

Almost 83 per cent of the investment component pledged through MoUs and bilateral partnership has come in the form of foreign direct investment, Fadnavis said. The investments promise employment to third lakh people in the state, he added.

During his media address at Switzerland, Fadnavis said, “The state has taken a lead by getting investment commitments worth Rs 30 lakh crore in multiple sectors including industries, agriculture, services, technology, health, education, energy et al. In addition we hope to finalise Rs seven to ten lakh crore investments in the next couple of days. Our preliminary discussions are done.”

Jan 23, 2026 11:56 AM IST

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