Twice in a row,Mumbai mayor to be a woman
The city is set to get a woman mayor for the second time in a row,with the mayoral post of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation being reserved for women in the open category on Tuesday.
The city is set to get a woman mayor for the second time in a row,with the mayoral post of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation being reserved for women in the open category on Tuesday. There are 89 women corporators at present. The mayoral term is two-and-a-half years and the Shiv Sena’s Dr Shubha Raul holds the post now.
While the Shiv Sena-BJP is positive about retaining the post,the Opposition in the BMC is chalking out a strategy to wrest it from them.
“We are still working out strategies and are sure to take away the mayor seat. There is a good chance for us to contest the mayoral elections and we are confident of winning,” said Congress leader Rajhans Singh.
The Opposition needs five more votes to stake claim on the post. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the BMC has a majority of 117 while the Opposition of the Congress-NCP,SP,and MNS has a strength of 110. Two of the Sena-BJP corporators,Pravin Devare (Dadar) and Vishwanath Mahadeshwar (Santacruz),have lost their right to vote in the mayoral elections due to pending cases.
Efforts are reported to be on by the Congress to divide Sena votes by wooing Akhil Bhartiya Sena’s Vandana and Geeta Gawli and Independent corporator Adolf D’Souza who are extending outside support to Sena.
Singh said the Congress will field its contestants. Corporators Sheetal Mhatre,Dr Geeta Yadav,Jyotsana Dighe,Presila Kadam are likely Congress candidates. Sources said the MNS,which had stayed neutral in the last mayoral elections and had not voted for any side,is likely to support the Congress this time on the condition that the candidate should be Marathi. “We will be fielding a Marathi candidate from Congress and ensuring that the Mayor is a Maharashtrian,” said Singh.
Sena leaders are,however,assured of their win. Senior corporators said that the party leadership will soon be taking a decision on the candidature. “Seniority and performance as a corporator are the main parameters for the candidate. But the party leadership’s decision will be final on the candidature selection,” said a corporator.
From the Sena,names of corporators Shraddha Jadhav,Snehal Jadhav,Rajul Patel and Shubhda Gudhekar’s are doing the rounds for the post. Sena corporators Ravindra Waikar who recently won the assembly elections from Jogeshwari and leader of house Sunil Prabhu had expressed interest in the mayoral post. “I am not upset…whatever happens is for the best,” said Waikar.
Electoral process
Mayoral posts are rotated every two-and-a-half years through a draw of lots for making reservations under Scheduled Tribes,Scheduled Castes,Other Backward Class and Women categories to eligible corporations. The reservations for SC,ST and OBC are made for a corporation if they have three or more elected representatives from the categories. Elections by show of hands will have to be conducted before December 10 for the new mayor.
Three cities along with Mumbai fell under reservation for women in open category on Tuesday including Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation,Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation and Nagpur Municipal Corporations. They were selected from a total of nine corporations eligible for reservation. The lottery process was held under the supervision of urban development secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava and minister of state for urban development Bhaskar Jadhav.
Six cities of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation,Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation,Malegaon Municipal Corporation,Jalgaon Municipal Corporation,Aurangabad Municipal Corporation and Nanded Municipal Corporation will be having OBC reservation for their next mayoral election. Of these,Aurangabad and Bhiwandi cities will have reservation for women within OBC.
Kolhapur Municipal Corporation and Nashik Municipal Corporation both will be having elections for an SC mayor next time,of which Kolhapur will have a woman mayor. Dhule Municipal Corporation will be electing an ST mayor.
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