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Mumbai‘s next mayor will be a woman from the general category. This is because the Maharashtra Urban Development Department held a lottery to decide who would be the mayor of theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The lottery result has already caused sharp political reactions, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders claiming that the rules to arrive at this decision were changed without informing anyone.
Why is the position of mayor only open to women from the general category?
According to PTI, a lottery held on Thursday led to the decision to place woman from the general category to be the mayor. Kishori Pednekar, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party and a former mayor of Mumbai, disagreed with the decision. He stated that they changed the rules without informing anyone.
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The Uddhav Thackeray-led camp was hoping that the post would go to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) woman, since both of the eligible candidates in that category were from Shiv Sena (UBT). The political race is likely to get even more heated now that the post is only open to a woman from the general category.
All details about the numbers game
The BJP won 89 seats in the BMC elections on January 15. The Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, won 29 seats. This brought the alliance’s total to 114, which is more than the 227 needed to control the civic body. The Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 65 seats, and its allies MNS and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won 6 and 1, respectively. Congress (with VBA) bagged 24, AIMIM 8, Ajit Pawar’s NCP 3, and Samajwadi Party 2.
2026 BMC Mayor Election LIVE
In the fight for power, Bhaskar Jadhav, the leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), told Shinde’s party to support the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp’s candidate in the mayoral election instead of the BJP, which is an ally. As per a report by PTI, Jadhav said that if Shinde’s Sena backs Shiv Sena (UBT), it would be a “true tribute” to Bal Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena, in the year that marks his 100th birthday.
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PTI stated that Kishori Pednekar, a former mayor and Thackeray supporter, has been named the head of Shiv Sena (UBT) in the new BMC general body. The meeting at Shiv Sena Bhavan made the choice. Pednekar said, “I have been named the leader of the party in the House,” according to PTI.
In this live blog, we bring all the real-time updates on the Mumbai BMC Mayor Elections 2026.
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13:35 (IST) 24 Jan 2026
Mumbai Mayor Election Live Updates: Mayor decision still pending as Sena (UBT) face internal resentment
It is still not clear who will be the next mayor of Mumbai, even a week after the results of the city's elections were made public.
However, there are hints that Shiv Sena (Thackeray) may have trouble getting the job of mayor. Even though "Matoshree" named former mayor Kishori Pednekar as the party's group leader, many party members are very unhappy with the choice.
People were happy to see her when the Shiv Sena (Thackeray) faction won the elections, but when they gave the group leader's job to someone who had been accused of wrongdoing, people became uneasy and unhappy within the group, as per report by Loksatta.
13:15 (IST) 24 Jan 2026
Mumbai Mayor Election Live Updates: Sanjay Raut claims Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar ‘seem to be coming together’
On Monday, Sanjay Raut, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), stated that Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar seem to be getting closer because candidates from both sides are running under the same election symbol. Raut said in Mumbai that Sharad Pawar would stay with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and that Ajit Pawar would have to leave the government. He also said that action would be taken against Ajit Pawar. He also said that one cannot "have the feet in two boats," which means that Ajit Pawar cannot support both sides at the same time, as per ANI. |
