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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.

Raj tears hair at Mumbai traffic mess

Mumbai:  Belying political hiccups, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray sought to don a new avatar as an urban governance buff, with emphasis on managing the city traffic muddles.

 

Raj, along with his senior confidante Bala Nandngaonkar dropped in to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today - fuelling wild speculation – a day after the MNS and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance was erased in the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society (BEST-ECCS).

 

After the 45-minute tete-a-tete with the CM, Raj told media-persons that he made a small but focussed presentation to rid the traffic and parking chaos plaguing Mumbai – with the city police brass attending.

 

Claiming the meeting had nothing to do with polls or partnerships, the MNS supremo declared: “Town planning is my interest… Show me the traffic status and I can predict the future of the country… Every city has rules and these must be followed to the hilt.”

 

“See the situation… Where 50 lived once, 500 are living. People and vehicles have multiplied manifold but not the road infrastructure. Mumbai has few roads, no organised transport system and no parking facilities. If not checked, the urban living will collapse,” said Raj grimly.

 

In a swipe at the ruling Mahayuti, the MNS said that “we are ignoring basic problems while getting obsessed with pigeons and elephants” – referring to the ongoing rows over pigeon-feeding in the city and a home for an aged female elephant Mahadevi belonging to a Kolhapur Jain Temple.

 

Providing solutions, Raj mooted new parking surface and underground parking facilities, clearly demarcating and painting zones with ‘Parking’ or ‘No Parking’ signs with detailed maps to prevent illegal dumping of vehicles anywhere.

 

Advocating steeper fines and harshness on the lines of drunken-driving to hammer in traffic discipline, Raj pointed an accusing finger at two-wheelers which create havoc on roads and cars that disregard road rules.

 

“Earlier this week, there was 400 cms of rainfall and traffic became a nightmare, roads jammed, haphazard parking and road congestion everywhere. Town planning is a critical aspect for me… Take cities like Mumbai, Thane or Pune which lack proper planning and also traffic discipline,” rued Raj.

 

On the Dharavi revamp project, Raj took a potshot at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying: “Merely giving away the land to Adani Group will not help. Instead of getting worked up about ‘Urban Naxals’, address the fundamental urban issues in the city.”


MVA willy-nilly backs Raj Thackeray.

Unperturbed over the MNS President Raj Thackeray’s meeting, SS (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said that as an opposition party leader, “he can go and meet the CM for issues concerning the state”.

 

“Why are you hassled… He has met the CM even in the past,” Raut pointed out, even as Raj himself rejected any political connotations.

 

Congress leader Nana Patole said that it is not important who met the CM, but the crucial matter was the issues concerning the people of the state.

 

“After the recent deluge, Mumbai roadways were in shambles, boats plied on roads intended for vehicles. The situation is worse in rural areas where there are no roads left. This is the outcome of deploying ‘space technology’ on the ground,” said Patole, taking a jibe at the BJP.

 

“Many leaders meet one another as well as with the chief minister, irrespective of whether they are in power or not. Maintaining communication with each other is the tradition of the state. There is no need to give a political angle to this meeting.”

Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister

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