Mumbai, Pune, Thane to have women mayors

Come March 12, a woman will take over the mayoral seat in Mumbai. And the story will repeat itself in six other municipal corporations contesting elections across the state. Mumbai, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune, Solapur and Pimpari-Chinchwad will appoint female candidates to take over the mayor’s office after the civic polls. 

The mayoral seats in Mumbai, Thane and Ulhasnagar have been reserved for women for the next 30 months, according to the state urban development department (UDD). Mumbai’s next mayor will be from the OBC category.

Thane and Ulhasnagar will have female mayors from the general and SC categories respectively. Solapur and Pune will have women mayors from the general category while Pimpari-Chinchwad will appoint a women candidate from the OBC category. Kalyan-Dombivli will see a female mayor from the SC category. 

The UDD held a draw for reservations for all 22 municipal corporations in the state. “Other corporations, who will go to poll in the future, will also have to follow the reservation rule,” said JM Pathak, UDD principal secretary.

If the Shiv Sena were to win the elections, Anagha Mhatre, who is contesting from Ward 32 (Kandivli), would be the party’s choice. The other Sena probables include Shubhada Gudhekar, Subha Raul and Mangala Kate.

But if the Congress were to win, it would appoint Neelam Dolas from Ward 146 (Chembur). The other probables include Anjali Satardekar and Aaisha Sheikh.