The draw process for mayoral posts in 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra began on Thursday at the Mantralaya, amidst suspense surrounding the Mumbai mayoral election.
Mumbai Mayoral Election Underway, Allegations of Rigging Surface
As per the rotational system, Mumbai will have a woman mayor from the open category, while Thane and Bhiwandi-Nizampur are expected to have mayors from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
Shiv Sena (UBT) has raised objections to the process, alleging that the reservation exercise was manipulated to favor the ruling alliance. The party claims the rules regarding reservation for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category were altered at the last minute to exclude Mumbai, as only Sena-UBT had two councillors from the category in the city.
According to the draw, mayoral posts in Ichalkaranji, Ahilyanagar, Kolhapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Akola, Panvel and Ulhasnagar have been reserved for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Chandrapur, Ichalkaranji, Akola and Jalgaon will have women mayors from the OBC category.
A total of 17 municipal corporations will have mayors from the open category, with nine of those posts reserved for women. Major civic bodies included in the open category are Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC), and Nagpur.
Woman Mayors for Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad
In addition to Mumbai, PCMC, Pune, Bhiwandi and Dhule will have women mayors from the open category. Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Nanded and Mira Bhayandar will also have women mayors from the open category.
Madhuri Misal, minister of state for the Urban Development Department, who chaired the draw process, responded to the allegations of fraud, stating that the government had taken note of the objections but dismissed the claims as lacking substance. She asserted that the process followed the established rules and that Sena (UBT) simply desired a reservation more favorable to their party.
The law mandates that the mayor’s post be reserved by rotation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Women candidates. Following the reservation announcement, a special meeting of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) house will be convened to notify members of the mayoral election schedule. The mayoral election is expected to take place around January 28 or 29.
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