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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.

Mohanlal expresses regret over "Empuraan" row; Kerala CM criticises Sangh Parivar

  • PTI
  • Mar 30, 2025
  • 4 min read

Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam superstar Mohanlal on Sunday expressed regret over the raging row surrounding his recently released film 'L2: Empuraan' and assured that the controversial portions would be removed from the movie.


The national award-winning actor posted a regret note on his Facebook account hours after state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan extended their support to the Prithviraj-directed movie and criticised the Sangh Parivar for the social media attack against its makers.


Mohanlal's social media post, expressing the entire movie team's "sincere regret", was later shared by its actor-director Prithviraj and one of the producers Antony Perumbavoor in their respective accounts.


Amidst the intense criticism unleashed by Sangh Parivar against some portions of the movie, Mohanlal said in his Facebook post


"As an artist, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films promote hatred toward any political movement, ideology, or religious community. With that in mind, both me and the Empuraan team sincerely regret any distress that may have caused to those who love me," he said.


"We also acknowledge that the responsibility for this rests with all of us who worked on the film. With this realisation, we have collectively decided to remove such elements from the movie," the actor said.


He further said for the past four decades, he has lived his film life as one among the people. "Your love and trust are my only strength. I firmly believe that there is no Mohanlal beyond that." the actor added.


Earlier in the day, CM Vijayan, who watched the movie along with his family members the previous evening, came up with a strongly worded FB post accusing Sangh Parivar of creating an "atmosphere of fear" regarding the stand adopted by its makers against communalism.


The Left veteran said the movie has reference to one of the "most brutal genocides the country has ever witnessed". That has angered Sangh Parivar and its masterminds, he alleged.


There have even been reports that the producers are being forced to re-censor and edit the movie under this pressure. This atmosphere of fear created by the Sangh Parivar is a matter of concern," the Chief Minister said.


He further pointed out that it is not good for democracy that communalists are able to destroy a work of art and viciously attack artists simply because they have taken a stand against communalism and portrayed its horrors.


Stating that the rights to make films, watch, enjoy and evaluate them or agree or disagree with them should not be lost. The united voice of the country, which is rooted in democratic and secular values, must be raised for this, Vijayan said.


State Finance Minister K N Balagopal and veteran CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan also came out against the social media attack against the makers of Empuraan movie.


Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan extended his whole-hearted support to the makers of Empuraan movie and accused Sangh Parivar of distorting history.


In a FB post, Satheesan alleged that the Sangh Parivar believes that freedom of expression means freedom of things being created in their favour. "Their agenda is to celebrate such flawed works," he charged.


Stating that cinema is the creation of a group of artists, he said modifying the content of a work of art by threatening, insulting and humiliating through social media is not a success.


"It is an indication of radical failure and cowardice. Don't forget that no matter how much you try to cover it up, historical truths will always remain clear," the LoP added.


He also made it clear that he would surely watch the movie.


However, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said he won't watch Mohanlal-starrer, 'L2: Empuraan'.


He also said that he was disappointed by this sort of movie-making.


"I had watched Lucifer and had liked it. I had said that I would watch the movie Empuraan when I heard it was a sequel to Lucifer," Chandrasekhar said in a FB post.


Earlier, Chandrasekhar had endorsed the stand taken by senior party leader M T Ramesh that a film should be seen as a film.


"But now I have come to know that the makers of the movie themselves have made 17 amendments in the movie which is undergoing re-censorship," he said.


He said that he understood that there were topics in the movie that disturbed Mohanlal fans and others.


"A movie should be watched as a movie. it can't be seen as history. Also, any movie that tries to build a story by distorting the truth is doomed to fail. So, will I watch this sequel to Lucifer? No. Am I disappointed by this type of moviemaking? - Yes," Chandrasekhar added.


L2: Empuraan', the second part of the 'Lucifer' movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.


On Thursday, the day of the movie's release, the Sangh Parivar vehemently criticised the film on social media, while the Congress and Left platforms celebrated the film for portraying the right-wing politics as "villainous".


'L2: Empuraan', which had its worldwide release on Thursday, had 4,500 shows in 746 screens in Kerala alone on the opening day, sources said.

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