desk
Share
News Topical, Digital Desk : Following the results of the municipal elections in Maharashtra, the countdown to the Mumbai mayoral election has begun. The BMC mayoral election is scheduled for February 11th, and the nomination process began today, Friday (February 6, 2026).
All eyes are on who will be Mumbai's next mayor. It's being said that the BJP may choose a woman. However, more than half a dozen names are being discussed.
Which party won how many seats?
The post of mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is reserved for women from the general category. The majority mark in the 227-member House is 114, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 89 seats. Its ally, the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, won 29 seats.
This brings the total number of Mahayuti (grand alliance) to 118. Ajit Pawar's NCP, however, won three seats, though the NCP contested this election independently from the Mahayuti.
On the opposition side, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) won 65 seats. Its allies, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, won six, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) won one. The Congress, which contested the elections alone, won 24 seats.
Which names are being discussed?
From the BJP side, names like Sheetal Gambhir-Desai, Ritu Tawde, Tejaswi Ghosalkar, Alka Kerkar, Rajshree Shirwadkar, Asha Marathe and Harshita Narvekar are being discussed.
- Tejaswi's husband, Abhishek Ghosalkar, was killed in a sensational shootout in Mumbai's Borivali-Dahisar area on February 8, 2024, after which Morris Noronha committed suicide. Abhishek Ghosalkar's father, Vinod Ghosalkar, is a former Shiv Sena MLA from Dahisar, Mumbai, and his family is considered close to the Thackeray family.
- Sheetal Desai, the daughter of former Shiv Sena MLA Suresh Gambhir, won from Ward 190 in Mahim-Dadar, a Shiv Sena (UBT) stronghold with a large Marathi population.
- Ritu Tawde is a two-time corporator from Ghatkopar who left the Congress party and joined the BJP in 2012. Ritu, who belongs to the Maratha community, won the election from Ghatkopar's Ward 132, a predominantly Gujarati area.
- Harshita Narvekar is the sister-in-law of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar. In fact, the Narvekar family contested three seats and won all three. The Narvekar family contested three seats from Mumbai's A Ward, considered a prestigious ward in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
- Alka Kerkar is a four-time corporator and previously served as Mumbai's deputy mayor. She is known for her people-connecting skills and grassroots network.
- Asha Marathe has been a three-time corporator from Ward 152. She is the district president of the BJP's South Mumbai women's wing and has a wealth of experience.
- Rajshree Shirwadkar is known for her experience in corporation matters and grassroots support.
--Advertisement--
