The BJP on Saturday announced Ritu Tawde, projected as a “Marathi Hindu”, as its candidate for the mayor’s post of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, with ally Shiv Sena (Shinde) settling for the deputy mayor’s position.
Elections to the top two posts in the country’s richest civic body are scheduled for February 11, and given the numerical strength in the House, the BJP is set to secure the mayoralty.
The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the 227-member civic body, with 89 seats. The Shiv Sena won 29. Sources said the Sena, led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, had pressed hard for the mayor’s post, arguing that conceding it would send a positive signal to the Marathi electorate. The BJP, however, held its ground.
The announcement of Tawde’s candidature was made by BJP MLA Ameet Satam, who reiterated chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s stance on the identity of the Mumbai mayor in the run-up to the January 15 civic elections.
“We had said from day one that Mumbai’s mayor would be a Marathi Hindu. The Opposition may have wanted someone else, but because of us, Mumbai will get a Marathi Hindu, Konkani Malvani mayor,” Satam told reporters.
Tawde is a three-term corporator from Ghatkopar. The mayor’s post was reserved for a woman from the general category in a draw.
The BJP’s move is seen as an attempt to blunt the “Marathi pride” plank of the Thackeray cousins — Uddhav and Raj — who had joined hands for the civic polls. While the two leaders asserted that only a Marathi should become Mumbai’s mayor, Fadnavis sought to sharpen the narrative by adding a Hindutva pitch, stating that the next mayor would be both Hindu and Marathi. He had also linked the issue to law and order, saying Mumbai would be made safer by driving out illegal migrants, particularly Bangladeshis.
The Shinde-led Sena named Sanjay Ghadi as its candidate for the deputy mayor’s post, announcing that the position would be rotated among senior corporators with an 18-month tenure each, a move aimed at keeping the party’s ranks together.
The BJP has rarely held the mayor’s post in Mumbai, barring a brief stint between 1982 and 1983. Thereafter, the undivided Shiv Sena, under the leadership of late Bal Thackeray, dominated the civic body, with the BJP playing a junior role for decades.