Mumbai’s civic politics witnessed a historic realignment on Feb 6, as the Bharatiya Janata Party named three-time corporator Ritu Tawde as its candidate for the post of mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), bringing a shift to the Shiv Sena’s long-standing control over the civic body since 1997.
The 43-year-old leader from Ghatkopar will head the BMC alongside deputy mayor Sanjay Shankar Ghadi from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, reflecting the new power-sharing arrangement within the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Both Tawde and Ghadi filed their nomination papers on February 7 at the BMC headquarters, with the mayoral election scheduled for February 11.
The Mahayuti alliance holds a comfortable majority in the 227-member civic body, having secured 118 seats in the elections held on January 15. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 89 corporators, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction won 29 seats, paving the way for a BJP-led civic administration in Mumbai.
The development marks a significant political milestone, as the undivided Shiv Sena had dominated the BMC for nearly three decades, keeping the mayor’s post firmly within the Thackeray family’s sphere of influence. This will be the first time in 25 years that the position shifts outside that political lineage.
Ritu Tawde currently represents Ward 132 and has held several key positions within the civic administration, including chairperson of the BMC’s Education Committee. She also serves as vice president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Mahila Morcha, the BJP’s women’s wing in the state.
Despite belonging to the Maratha community, Tawde has demonstrated strong cross-community appeal in the Gujarati-dominated Ghatkopar region. She entered the BMC for the first time in 2012 from Ward 127 and went on to secure victories from different wards in 2017 and again in the 2026 elections, underlining her electoral resilience and organisational strength.
On the opposition benches, the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray managed to secure 65 seats, while its ally Maharashtra Navnirman Sena won six, leaving the combine well short of the numbers required to retain control of the civic body.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, with an annual budget exceeding Rs 74,427 crore for the financial year 2025-26, is not only India’s richest municipal corporation but also one of the wealthiest in Asia, making control over it a crucial political and administrative prize.
Under the alliance arrangement, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena has agreed to rotate the deputy mayor’s post among four of its corporators, with each serving for approximately 15 months during the five-year term. Party leaders have said the rotation mechanism is aimed at ensuring broader representation and participation within the faction.
