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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Seventy-six mayors ruled BMC since 1931

After four years, Mumbai to salute its first citizen Kishori Pednekar Vishwanath Mahadeshwar Snehal Ambekar Sunil Prabhu Mumbai: As the date for appointing Mumbai’s First Citizen looms closer, various political parties have adopted tough posturing to foist their own person for the coveted post of Mayor – the ‘face’ of the country’s commercial capital. Ruling Mahayuti allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have vowed that the city...

Seventy-six mayors ruled BMC since 1931

After four years, Mumbai to salute its first citizen Kishori Pednekar Vishwanath Mahadeshwar Snehal Ambekar Sunil Prabhu Mumbai: As the date for appointing Mumbai’s First Citizen looms closer, various political parties have adopted tough posturing to foist their own person for the coveted post of Mayor – the ‘face’ of the country’s commercial capital. Ruling Mahayuti allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have vowed that the city will get a ‘Hindu Marathi’ person to head India’s richest civic body, while the Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also harbour fond hopes of a miracle that could ensure their own person for the post. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) optimism stems from expectations of possible political permutations-combinations that could develop with a realignment of forces as the Supreme Court is hearing the cases involving the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party this week. Catapulted as the largest single party, the BJP hopes to install a first ever party-man as Mayor, but that may not create history. Way back in 1982-1983, a BJP leader Dr. Prabhakar Pai had served in the top post in Mumbai (then Bombay). Incidentally, Dr. Pai hailed from Udupi district of Karnataka, and his appointment came barely a couple of years after the BJP was formed (1980), capping a distinguished career as a city father, said experts. Originally a Congressman, Dr. Pai later shifted to the Bharatiya Janata Party, then back to Congress briefly, founded the Janata Seva Sangh before immersing himself in social activities. Second Administrator The 2026 Mayoral elections have evoked huge interest not only among Mumbaikars but across the country as it comes after nearly four years since the BMC was governed by an Administrator. This was only the second time in the BMC history that an Administrator was named after April 1984-May 1985. On both occasions, there were election-related issues, the first time the elections got delayed for certain reasons and the second time the polling was put off owing to Ward delimitations and OBC quotas as the matter was pending in the courts. From 1931 till 2022, Mumbai has been lorded over by 76 Mayors, men and women, hailing from various regions, backgrounds, castes and communities. They included Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, even a Jew, etc., truly reflecting the cosmopolitan personality of the coastal city and India’s financial powerhouse. In 1931-1932, the Mayor was a Parsi, J. B. Boman Behram, and others from his community followed like Khurshed Framji Nariman (after whom Nariman Point is named), E. A. Bandukwala, Minoo Masani, B. N. Karanjia and other bigwigs. There were Muslims like Hoosenally Rahimtoola, Sultan M. Chinoy, the legendary Yusuf Meherally, Dr. A. U. Memon and others. The Christian community got a fair share of Mayors with Joseph A. D’Souza – who was Member of Constituent Assembly representing Bombay Province for writing-approving the Constitution of India, M. U. Mascarenhas, P. A. Dias, Simon C. Fernandes, J. Leon D’Souza, et al. A Jew Elijah Moses (1937-1938) and a Sikh M. H. Bedi (1983-1984), served as Mayors, but post-1985, for the past 40 years, nobody from any minority community occupied the august post. During the silver jubilee year of the post, Sulochana M. Modi became the first woman Mayor of Mumbai (1956), and later with tweaks in the rules, many women ruled in this post – Nirmala Samant-Prabhavalkar (1994-1995), Vishakha Raut (997-1998), Dr. Shubha Raul (March 2007-Nov. 2009), Shraddha Jadhav (Dec. 2009-March 2012), Snehal Ambedkar (Sep. 2014-March 2017). The last incumbent (before the Administrator) was a government nurse, Kishori Pednekar (Nov. 2019-March 2022) - who earned the sobriquet of ‘Florence Nightingale’ of Mumbai - as she flitted around in her full white uniform at the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, earning the admiration of the citizens. Mumbai Mayor – high-profile post The Mumbai Mayor’s post is considered a crucial step in the political ladder and many went on to become MLAs, MPs, state-central ministers, a Lok Sabha Speaker, Chief Ministers and union ministers. The formidable S. K. Patil was Mayor (1949-1952) and later served in the union cabinets of PMs Jawaharlal Nehru, Lah Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi; Dahyabhai V. Patel (1954-1955) was the son of India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; Manohar Joshi (1976-1977) became the CM of Maharashtra, later union minister and Speaker of Lok Sabha; Chhagan Bhujbal (1985-1986 – 1990-1991) became a Deputy CM.

Boon To Working Middle Class

Updated: Feb 3, 2025

Working Middle Class

Year after year the union budget continues to be a very popular event in the country, especially for the working middle class, more importantly for the salaried and the MSME business class. The budget speech is generally divided into two parts. The First part mainly covers various budget allocations to different sectors of the economy of the country. The second part generally deals with the provisions of personal and corporate income tax which affects the entire middle class of the country. It also deals with indirect taxes i.e the customs duty and GST. However, in the recent past, it has been noticed that the GST provisions are amended almost throughout the year. Hence the main focus as far as the working middle class is concerned is on the provisions of the personal income tax.


New income tax Bill to be introduced

This year’s budget speech was no exception as the first part dealt with budget allocations to several key sectors like promoting skillful indigenous manufacturing, Education, Health Care, urban development and financial sector. Right at the beginning of the second part, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a new Income Tax Bill will be introduced in a week’s time. So, the nation can expect a completely new income tax act that can come into force very soon. The objective of the new Income Tax bill is to simplify the Act. The present Income Tax Act, 1961 is considered by many as an ambiguously worded complex text which has led to a lot of litigations on its interpretational aspect in the past. The new bill is expected to be worded in a very simple manner.


Amendments to personal income tax

The Finance Minister proposed some very beneficial income tax provisions right towards the end of her budget speech. For several years now, the middle class which has been the major contributor to the personal income tax collection in the country has been demanding a lower rate of income tax. This demand has mainly triggered from the high inflation rate, the higher cost of living and the reduced spending capacity of the middle class owing to the fact that a substantial portion of their salaries is used up in payment of high taxes. A lower personal income tax rate would result into a sizable disposable income in the hands of the middle class which would result in higher spending which in turn would trigger the economic growth that the PM Narendra Modi has been envisaging for a very long time.


The amount of income up to which no tax shall be payable was Rs 5 lakhs in 2023. This amount was increased to Rs. 7 lakhs in the Finance Act. 2024. This amount has further been increased to a whopping 12 lakhs in the current budget. This has come as a big relief to all the middle-class people who have income up to 12 lakhs. Hence a person having total taxable income upto Rs 12 lakhs will not be required to pay any income tax. In fact, a salaried taxpayer will not be required to pay any tax where his income before standard deduction is less than or equal to Rs.12,75,000. The new tax slabs are also expected to reduce the tax burden of persons having income in excess of Rs.12 lakhs. The basic exemption limit has also been increased from 2.5 lakhs to 4 lakhs. This means that a person having total taxable income up to ₹4,00,000 need not file an income tax return at all. However, it is worth noting that persons having income between 4 lakhs to 12 lakhs must file a return of income and claim a rebate. They will not be required to pay any tax though.


In case of senior citizens, the threshold above which TDS is required to be deducted on interest on fixed deposits has been raised from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,00,000. The provision to claim two house properties as self-occupied properties without any condition is also a welcome amendment. Also, In the previous budget a new provision to file an updated return was introduced wherein a taxpayer could file his or her return of income upon payment of the taxes up to two years from the end of the year. After having received a positive response with over 90 lakhs updated returns being filed in the past year. The period of filing such updated returns has been extended from 2 to 4 years.


Rationalisation of TDS limits

Businesses are also expected to benefit from a reduction in the compliance by rationalization of TDS limits on payment of rent, professional fees, commission etc. Small charitable trusts should also benefit from lesser compliance by the extension of the validity of their registration from 5 years to 10 years. On one hand the working middle class will be happy with the reduction in their tax burden and on the other they will also be hoping that the huge spending will result in employment, good infrastructure and better living conditions.

(The author is a Chartered Accountant based in Mumbai.)

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