After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) results were announced, Uddhav Thackeray said that if God wishes, the next mayor of Mumbai will be from the Shiv Sena (UBT). His party won 65 seats, nowhere
near the 114-seat majority in the 227-member BMC. Is it still possible for him to get a mayor from his partyinstalled? Yes, in two scenarios.
Scenario 1: Mumbai mayor reservation lottery ST seat
The reservation lottery for the post of mayor of 29 metropolitan municipalities in the state will be held on Thursday, January 22. This process will be held at 11 am in the Council Chamber of the Ministry. Only after the announcement of reservation, can the candidates be decided.
If Mumbai’s Mayor gets the scheduled tribe (ST) reservations, the situation will change.
The single largest BJP with 89 seats, and its ally Shinde Senawith 29 seats don’t have any ST category newly elected corporator. Sena UBT, however has two corporators from the ST category — Jitendra Walvi from BMC’s ward number 53 and Priyadarshani Thakare from ward number 121 in Mumbai.
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So he could still secure the Mumbai mayor post despite lacking a majority, as reservation rules mandate that ST or SC posts go to elected corporators of that category, regardless of party strength.
But this could fall flat if the reservation for the post of mayor, which was decided on a rotational basis for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), women and Other Backward Classes (OBC), is restarted from ‘open category’. Moreover, for the first time in 2026, 10 nominated corporators (increased from five in 2023) will also participate in the House, potentially influencing the outcome.
Scenario 2: Tacit understanding with Devendra Fadnavis and BJP
The Mahayuti is the alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won 89 seats, and Shiv Sena (Shinde), which won 29 seats. Even though the BJP has the highest number of seats, it will need Shinde Sena’s support to reach the halfway mark of 114.
Shinde is keen on the post of mayor for at least two-and-a-half years on the grounds that it is Bal Thackeray’s birth centenary year. He kept his corporators in a hotel and also took the tussle to Delhi, maintaining that he would respect public mandate and the mayor will be from the Mahayuti.
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In such a scenario, the buzz is that the Thackeraygroup has shown its inclination to support the BJP from behind the scenes, if it goes solo.
Thackeray group’s corporators could remain absent during the mayoral election, which would bring down the majority figure from 114 to 82. In such a situation, the BJP, with 89 corporators, can come to power alone here. There is also talk that an old Shiv Sainik of Shiv Sena may get a chance for the post of mayor.
