Mumbai: India’s richest municipal body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Saturday elected its first woman mayor as BJP corporator Ritu Tawde assumed office, marking a major political shift in Mumbai’s civic administration.
A corporator from Ghatkopar, Tawde’s elevation comes after nearly 25 years during which the top post in the BMC remained with the undivided Shiv Sena led by the late Bal Thackeray family. Her appointment signals the growing influence of the BJP in the country’s financial capital.
Tawde brings prior administrative experience to the role, having earlier served as the chairperson of the BMC’s Education Committee. She will be supported by Shankar Ghadi as deputy mayor, who represents the Shiv Sena faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The Shiv Sena has also decided to rotate the deputy mayor’s position among four of its corporators, with each leader serving a portion of the term as part of an internal arrangement.
The announcement of the mayor and deputy mayor was made on Saturday by BJP leader Amit Satnam and Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale.
In the recently concluded municipal elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats in the 227-member BMC. Its alliance partner, the Shiv Sena, won 29 seats. Together, the two parties command a strength of 118 corporators, comfortably above the simple majority mark of 114.
On the other side, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, contested the polls together and secured 65 seats. The results effectively ended the long-standing dominance of the Thackeray family in the BMC and underscored a changing political landscape in Mumbai.
The BMC continues to be the wealthiest municipal corporation in India, with a budget of Rs 74,427 crore for the 2025–26 financial year, reflecting a 14 per cent increase over the previous year. Despite its strong financial position, the civic body faces pressing challenges, with ageing and strained urban infrastructure remaining a top priority for the new leadership.
