Mumbai mayor election live updates: Raj Thackeray calls Kalyan MNS decision ‘disgusting’, likens politics to marketplace

MUmbai city manager election unrecorded updates: The BJP-led Mahayuti, which swept the Brihanmumbai Municipal corp (BMC) elections endure hebdomad, is set to appoint a woman mayor from the open category in Mumbai after the completion of the lottery-based reservation process on Thursday.The outcome was a setback for the Shiv Sena (UBT), which had hoped the mayor’s post would be reserved for a Scheduled Tribe woman, as both eligible candidates in that category were from Uddhav Thackeray’s party.With the reservation finalised, attention has shifted to the likely candidates for the BMC mayor’s post. Among the frontrunners are Alka Kerkar, a three-term corporator and former deputy mayor, and Rajashree Shirwadkar, also a three-term corporator.Shiv Sena (UBT) alleges rigged lotteryThe lottery process, however, drew sharp criticism from the opposition, particularly the Shiv Sena (UBT), which alleged that the reservation exercise was rigged to favour the ruling alliance.As the draw was underway, the party claimed the process had been fixed to benefit the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance.“The government changed the rules for reservation for the ST category by raising the minimum number of seats from two to three in the corporations. This is an injustice to SCs and STs as Mumbai was not considered for these, as well as OBC reservation,” said former mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar, who attended the meeting on behalf of her party.Uddhav's Sena appeals to Shinde factionAmid the ongoing tussle for power in civic bodies across Maharashtra, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader on Friday urged the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena to support the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s candidate instead of its ally, the BJP, in the BMC mayoral election.Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Bhaskar Jadhav said such a move would be a tribute to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in his 100th centenary year."I request and urge those who claim to take forward the ideals of Balasaheb and claim to be his real inheritors to back Balasaheb's real Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate in the BMC polls. This will be a true tribute to Balasaheb in his birth centenary year," Jadhav said, as reported by news agency PTI."If you claim to be the real inheritors of Balasaheb's legacy then he should not back the BJP," Jadhav added.BMC election results snapshotIn the January 15 BMC polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats. The Shiv Sena, led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, won 29 seats, taking the Mahayuti alliance beyond the halfway mark of 114 seats required to control the civic body.The Shiv Sena (UBT), which ruled the BMC for 25 years since 1997 as a united party, secured 65 seats. Its allies—the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)—won six seats and one seat respectively.The thin margin drew sharp responses from Shinde's Sena, which moved all winning corporators to a Bandra hotel to avoid poaching.What's happening in other Maharashtra citiesIn total, 17 municipal corporations across Maharashtra will have mayors selected from the open category, several of them women.Key civic bodies under the open category include Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC) and Nagpur.Apart from Mumbai, Pune, Bhiwandi, and Dhule will have women mayors from the open category. Navi Mumbai, Malegaon, Nanded and Mira-Bhayandar will also see women mayors from the same category.As per the lottery, eight other civic bodies will have mayors from the general category, which may also include women. These are Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Parbhani, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Amravati, Vasai-Virar, Solapur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Bhiwandi-Nizampur.An official said Thane will have a mayor from the Scheduled Caste category, while Jalgaon, Chandrapur, Ahilyanagar and Akola municipal corporations will have women mayors from the OBC category. Panvel, Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur and Ulhasnagar will have OBC mayors, while Kalyan-Dombivli will have a mayor from the Scheduled Tribe category. Jalna and Latur will have women mayors from the Scheduled Caste category.