Uddhav led Sena to field strong candidates for mayor of Mumbai, deputy mayor posts

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena will field candidates for the posts of Mayor of Mumbai and Deputy Mayor, party sources said here on Thursday.

As per the lottery system, the post of the Mayor of Mumbai has been reserved for women of the general category. Accordingly, preparations have begun to field candidates for the posts of Mumbai Mayor and Deputy Mayor despite the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena not having the required number of corporators.

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Party sources said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is keen to ensure that the BJP faces a tough contest for both posts. He has summoned Kishori Pednekar, who is Uddhav-led Shiv Sena’s group leader in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), to his ‘Matoshree’ residence along with other Sena corporators. Detailed discussions are underway to decide the Sena strategy, sources said.

The Uddhav-led Shiv Sena will file applications for the posts of Mumbai Mayor and Deputy Mayor on February 7, sources said.

The Mumbai mayor will be named on February 11, and a special meeting has been organised on February 11 at 12 noon. The time to withdraw applications for the post of Mumbai mayor will be 15 minutes before corporators assemble at the BMC.

There is a strong possibility that the mayor of Mumbai will be from the BJP in the Mahayuti, since it has the largest number of corporators in the BMC, though it is still short of a majority of 114 wards. If the BMC gets a BJP mayor, it will most probably be Tejasvee Ghosalkar, whose name has been discussed.

After the reservation is announced, the names of some more women from the Mahayuti will also come to the fore for the post of mayor. In the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections, Ward No. 2 was reserved for general women. Tejasvee Ghosalkar contested against Dhanashree Kolge of the Shiv Sena Thackeray group from Ward No. 2. Tejasvee Ghosalkar won this contest with a huge majority from the BJP. (Mumbai Municipal Corporation Reservation 2026)

However, sources said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is keen to ensure that the BJP does not get another opportunity to elect any mayor “unopposed” to the BMC, as it happened in several municipal corporations.

The BJP-led Mahayuti has a majority in the BMC, but this time, Uddhav Thackeray is determined to put up strong candidates for the posts of Mumbai Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the BMC, sources said.

Incidentally, the ruling Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and RPI (Athawale) won the BMC elections, but the willing Mahayuti alliance still lacks four seats to touch the majority 114 mark.

The BJP won the maximum number of 89 corporators, while 29 wards were won by corporators of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has secured the second position by winning 65 wards in the BMC.

Yet, the Uddhav Thackray-led MNS and Uddhav-led Sena alliance do not have the required majority for the mayor’s post. Even if all opposition parties come together, they still cannot reach the majority of 114.