BJP’s Ritu Tawde Elected Mumbai Mayor Unopposed

• BJP corporator Ritu Tawde elected unopposed as Mumbai Mayor
• First BJP mayor in four decades after Sena (UBT) withdraws challenge
• 53-year-old three-term corporator from Ghatkopar West assumes charge
• BJP won 89 seats, Mahayuti alliance secured 118 in 227-member civic body

GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 11th Feb: BJP corporator Ritu Tawde has been elected unopposed as Mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), marking the first time in four decades that Mumbai’s top civic post has gone to the BJP. The development ends the Thackeray family’s 25-year dominance over the country’s richest civic body after Shiv Sena (UBT) decided against fielding a challenger.

A three-term corporator from Ghatkopar West, the 53-year-old Tawde brings over a decade of experience in grassroots politics, civic administration and public welfare. According to senior BJP leaders, Tawde is known for her hands-on approach and community engagement and has steadily built a reputation as a leader who combines administrative competence with deep local connect.

Tawde began her journey at the ward level, where she contested civic elections and gradually rose through the ranks. Her tenure in the BMC has included several key leadership roles including Chairperson of the Education Committee, Vice Chairperson of the Improvements Committee, and membership of key civic bodies. Her experience spans education policy, urban infrastructure, public services, and civic administration.

Alongside her municipal responsibilities, Tawde has played a prominent role in organisational politics, particularly within the Mahila Morcha, where she has served as a former state vice president and district president for Mumbai’s eastern suburbs. She has also been associated with the Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal as a director and has worked closely with government-linked skill development and professional training initiatives, including those under the Khadi and Village Industries framework.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed the BJP was forced to choose a Marathi mayor for Mumbai due to the overwhelming support of Marathi people to his party and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in the BMC polls. Tawde is originally from the Congress, Raut claimed and added, “The way Marathi people overwhelmingly voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS, the BJP had to make a Marathi mayor in Mumbai.”

In the BMC polls to the 227-member civic body, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while its ally, Shiv Sena, won 29 seats. With a combined strength of 118 corporators, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured the mayor’s post comfortably. The Shiv Sena (UBT), which ruled the civic body for 25 years since 1997, won 65 seats, while its allies, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), won six and one seat, respectively.

The BMC is the country’s richest civic body, with its budget for 2025-26 pegged at Rs 74,450 crore. Tawde’s unopposed election signals a new political era for Mumbai’s civic governance after a quarter century of Shiv Sena leadership.