As soon as the reservation draw for the mayoral positions of 29 municipal corporations in the state was announced, a political controversy erupted. According to this draw, 15 municipal corporations in the state will have women mayors, while 14 places will have opportunities for the general (open) category. Among these, 4 municipal corporations will have reservations for OBC women, while 9 municipal corporations will have reservations for women from the open category. After it was clarified from this list that the mayoral position of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is reserved for the general women's category, the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena has raised strong objections.
Former Mayor Kishori Pednekar has taken an aggressive stance on the reservation for the Mayor of Mumbai Municipal Corporation. She said, “So far, there has not been an OBC woman mayor in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. In 2019 and 2022, the mayoral position was for the open category. This time, an OBC woman should have been given a chance. However, injustice has been done to the OBCs,” she alleged.
Kishori Pednekar has raised a question mark over the reservation lottery process. “The rules for the proportion of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) have been predetermined. However, the reservation lottery for BMC was determined and conducted in a planned manner,” she made a serious allegation.
They raised a significant question by pointing out the exclusion of the tribal (ST) category. “When there are two elected councilors from the Scheduled Tribes in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, why was this category excluded when issuing the reservation letter? Was this done deliberately because the grand alliance does not have councilors from this category?” they directly questioned.
Pednekar also alleged that suddenly a new rule of at least three seats for the tribal category was created, and based on that, the ST category was sidelined for the BMC. “The reservation lottery has been drawn based on the number of seats the ruling party has,” they alleged. Due to this entire incident, a shadow of doubt has spread over the reservation draw in Mumbai, and it seems that this issue is being linked not only to politics but also to social justice.
Meanwhile, looking at the reservation equation across the state –
Scheduled Tribes (ST): 1 Municipal Corporation
Scheduled Castes (SC): 3 Municipal Corporations
OBC: 8 Municipal Corporations
Open (General) Category: 17 Municipal Corporations
This dispute, which started over the BMC reservation, is likely to escalate further, and the political circles are watching whether the Thackeray group takes legal steps in this regard.