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BMC Elections 2017: Race for Mayor's post hots up

As per the civic rulebook, the Mayor will have to be elected by March 9

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Shiv Sena and BJP supporters celebrate after election results were declared on Thursday
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As Shiv Sena and BJP are closely positioned after wining 84 and 82 seats respectively in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, they will now try every trick in the book to reach to the magic figure of 114 to stake claims in BMC, and secure the Mayor's chair.

However, on Thursday, hours after the results were declared, both Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Mayor will be from their respective parties. As per the civic rulebook, the Mayor will have to be elected by March 9.

Uddhav Thackeray has stressed on the fact that his party will ensure that they retain the Mayor's chair. CM Fadnavis, too, claimed that the mandate demands a BJP Mayor, and his party is working towards it.

If Shiv Sena manages to tie up with smaller parties to achieve the magic figure of 114, the party will have to choose from its seasoned leaders. This will prove a major task for Uddhav as the Mayoral candidate should not just be able to handle the functioning of the House, but BJP too; if party decides to sit in the Opposition. Probable Mayoral candidates likely to be considered for Shiv Sena are: former mayor Milind Vaidya, Rajul Patel, Shubhada Gudekar, Mangesh Satamkar, Yashwant Jadhav, Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, Shraddha Jadhav and Sheetal Mhatre.

If BJP manages to reach the figure of 114 seats, they have big names like Manoj Kotak, who was the projected as Mayoral candidate during the campaigning for the polls. Ram Barot, is also in the reckoning as he has already served as deputy mayor. Shailaja Girkar is another strong contender for the post.

However, if Shiv Sena and the BJP join hands, then it is likely that BJP will demand one term of Mayorship, which will be two and half years. In this case both the parties will have to choose one candidate from each party.

The reservation for the Mumbai Mayor's post for next two and half years was changed to the open category in a lottery this month. Since 2007, Mayor's post has been served by women candidates. Male corporators from both the parties will seek the preference this time. Barring two-and-a-half years when Sunil Prabhu was Mayor (between 2012 to 2014), since 2007, the Mayor's office has been occupied by women corporators from Shiv Sena.

"In 2012, the Mayor was elected on March 9 and the first corporation meeting was held on that day. As per the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act 1888 the five years term of the municipal corporator will end on March 8, 2017. So the Mayor's election has to be conducted on March 9," said an official from Municipal Secretary Department.

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