top of page

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.

Satyajeet Tambe on way to BJP

Mumbai: Though, in a public interview he has denied any chances of joining the BJP and said that he is happy as an independent MLC, sources have said that former state youth Congress chief Satyajeet Tambe is likely to join the BJP sometime soon.


Tambe faced expulsion from the Congress two years back when he rebelled against the party to file his nomination from the Nashik graduates’ constituency of the state legislative council. It was said that he would join the BJP someday when he won the election. The speculation got air after he showered praises on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his efficiency and leadership all the while criticizing the Congress leadership in Delhi as well as the state for the sorry state of affairs in the party.


Tambe, while replying to queries during a public interview organized by Sakal Media Group, complimented CM Fadnavis for his style of working and said he reminds former union minister and senior Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh.


“What any party worker wants from a leader that he should be a large hearted one and that he should be accessible. Fadnavis has both these qualities. If you go to him with any work he would do that immediately without even thinking of profit and loss. He is popular among all parties as a leader who gets you work done even on an SMS,” Tambe said adding that these qualities in him remind me of Vilasrao Deshmukh, who also used to be always ready with a helping hand.


Praising Fadnavis

While praising Fadnavis for his accessibility on one hand, Tambe criticized Rahul Gandhi for his inaccessibility. Stating that though the party is in trouble, the leaders are not accessible even to the state leadership. He challenged the state leadership of the Congress party to get an appointment with Rahul Gandhi and meet him at a short notice of one hour. Tambe narrate his own experience to blame the coterie of leaders around Gandhi for the current sorry state of affairs within the party.


“I tried meeting him while he was on the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab, but I couldn’t get any response. Later when the contact was established, I was summoned to Delhi. But, I was not allowed to meet him. After this happened a couple of times, I stopped the efforts. My father, who is a hard core Congress worker too wrote three letters. He too didn’t get any response,” Tambe said and added, “This shows that lack of accessibility is the biggest drawback of the Congress.”


Tambe also said that the Congress party doesn’t seem to have any future left in Indian politics. “They lack a clear political policy. It appears as if nobody in the party is seriously thinking about it and hence at times their stand appears to be anti-India stand,” he said.


On this backdrop, when he was asked whether he would be joining the BJP, he said, "I'm not very keen on that. There are leaders like Fadnavis, there are others who guide me in things like these. Whenever they would tell me, I shall do that. But as of now I'm an independent and I'm happy as an independent."

Comments

bottom of page