The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body, is set to witness a historic leadership change with BJP corporator Ritu Tawde becoming the new Mayor of Mumbai. The development marks the end of over 25 years of Thackeray family dominance in the BMC and signals a major shift in the city’s civic politics.
Ritu Tawde, a corporator from Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area, will be the first woman mayor of the BMC. She has previously served as the chairperson of the Education Committee, where she played an active role in municipal education policy and school infrastructure. Her elevation reflects the BJP’s growing influence in Mumbai’s urban governance.
The mayoral announcement follows the BJP’s strong performance in the BMC elections, where the party emerged as the single largest force with 89 seats in the 227-member civic body. The BJP contested the polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, which secured 29 seats. Together, the alliance commands 118 corporators, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 114.
As part of the power-sharing arrangement, Shankar Ghadi of the Shiv Sena has been named Deputy Mayor. The party has also decided to rotate the deputy mayor’s position among four of its corporators during the term, a move aimed at balancing leadership responsibilities within the alliance.
The opposition alliance comprising the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena managed to win 65 seats, falling short of retaining control over the civic body. With this outcome, the long-standing Thackeray hold over Mumbai’s municipal administration has officially come to an end, paving the way for BJP-led governance in the BMC.
The names of the mayor and deputy mayor were formally announced by BJP leader Amit Satnam and Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale on Saturday, sealing the new political arrangement at the civic body.
The BMC remains a powerful institution, managing a massive budget of ₹74,427 crore for the 2025–26 financial year, reflecting a 14 percent increase over the previous year. With this financial strength comes major responsibility, as the new leadership faces pressing challenges including aging infrastructure, flood management, road conditions, housing, and public transport in India’s financial capital.
Ritu Tawde’s appointment not only represents a political transition but also highlights the growing role of women in urban governance. As Mumbai enters a new phase of civic administration, expectations are high that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will focus on development-oriented governance, administrative efficiency, and long-term infrastructure planning for the city.