Lottery On Thursday To Decide Reservation For 29 Mayoral Posts In Maharashtra

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Urban Development Department will conduct a crucial lottery this Thursday to determine the reservation status of mayoral seats for 29 municipal corporations, including the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). An official notification has been issued to hold the lottery at Mantralaya.

An official from the UDD said, “Under the 74th Constitutional Amendment, the mayoral post must rotate among various categories, including Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and women. The reservation will be decided based on the proportion of the population of SC, ST and OBC in the state in the 2011 census.”

Because candidates can only be officially nominated after the reserved category is announced, political parties must wait until this process is finalised to declare their contenders. Consequently, it is unlikely that Mumbai will see a new mayor appointed within this week.

“This system of rotating reservations is based on the 74th Amendment of the Indian Constitution, which granted constitutional status to urban local bodies. This amendment mandates reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women to ensure that all sections of society have the opportunity to hold the mayoral office,” the official said.

The reservation process begins once the Urban Development Department issues an official notification. Officials prepare a rotation list of eligible categories based on previous terms. The final reservation is then decided through a public lottery.

Notably, these reservations are not fixed in advance. Instead, the UDD conducts a lottery after the election results. Once the category is officially announced, the formal election process begins.

Following the lottery results, a special meeting of the Municipal Corporation is convened. During this meeting, a mayor is elected from among the corporators belonging to the determined reserved or general category. The election is decided by a simple majority and mayors are elected for a term of two and a half years.

Based on previous lotteries, the last two mayors of Mumbai were elected from the general category. In the 227-member Mumbai Municipal Corporation house, a candidate requires the support of at least 114 corporators. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena contested the election as an alliance and won 118 seats.