Mumbai: With the BJP and the Shiv Sena separated by only a few seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), both parties are eligible to name their choice for Mayor, based on calculations.
Though a party needs 114 seats in the 227-member BMC for majority, parties that have not managed this number can still try for the Mayor’s post. Going by statements made by leaders of both parties, this could prove to be yet another point of difference between them.
“We already have support from a few independents and we are confident that we will emerge as the party with the highest number of seats in the BMC,” said BJP Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, said his party will decide on who gets to be Mayor as it is the single largest party post-results. “I will announce my decision at the appropriate time, now it’s time to celebrate. Let me celebrate,” he said.
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As per the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, achieving majority in the House is not important for the mayoral election; the candidate is declared a winner if s/he gets more than half of the votes cast by corporators. In this scenario, votes of the independents and smaller parties become crucial. Once elected, the Mayor cannot be ousted in next two-and-a-half years.
The NCP has won in nine wards, the Samajwadi Party in six, MNS in seven and the AIMIM in three. Four seats have been won by independent candidates while the Akhil Bharatiya Sena has clinched one. These votes total 25, and any abstaining from voting could be beneficial to either party. In the past, MNS and SP have abstained from voting, while two AIMIM MLAs did so for a confidence motion in the State Assembly, which ended up helping the BJP.