BMC 2026: Mumbai’s new corporators bring fresh promises, grounded priorities

First-time corporators are stepping into civic politics with a clear agenda, fixing what Mumbaites face daily, from garbage and drainage to public safety, walkable streets and education

From accounts executives and teachers to homemakers and engineers, first-time corporators are stepping into civic politics with a clear agenda, fixing what Mumbaites face daily, from garbage and drainage to public safety, walkable streets and education.

BMC 2026: Mumbai’s new corporators bring fresh promises, grounded priorities

Dakshata Kawthankar, 28

Party: BJP | Profession: Accounts executive, Asian Paints

A first-time corporator from Charkop (Ward 19), Dakshata Kawthankar entered politics last month after receiving her party ticket, following in the footsteps of her father, Shrikant Kawthankar, who represented the same ward between 2012 and 2017 and served on the BEST committee. Her top priority is strengthening garbage management, a long-standing complaint in the area. She also wants to develop more neighbourhood gardens to improve local air quality and create cleaner public spaces. Alongside civic upgrades, she plans to focus on senior citizens’ welfare by creating small employment opportunities. Women’s safety, she says, is another pressing concern, and she wants to strengthen the CCTV network across the locality.

Neelam Gurav, 34

Party: BJP | Profession: Teacher

Armed with an MA and BEd, Neelam Gurav is a former teacher who later shifted to private tuition, including teaching underprivileged students without charging a fee. Now representing Kandivli’s Lokhandwala (Ward 27), she is taking on what she calls the “everyday choke points” of public life: illegal parking and hawkers occupying footpaths. Gurav says encroached walkways make it difficult, even unsafe, for senior citizens to move around independently. She also links illegally parked vehicles to women’s safety concerns, claiming some become spots where people drink, creating an unsafe atmosphere. Beyond enforcement, she wants to address traffic congestion in the locality, while also focusing on drainage and cleanliness issues in the Narsi Pada slum pockets.

Rafiq Ilyas Sheikh, 45

Party: Congress | Profession: Engineer; construction and FMCG trading

With a BE degree and experience working on projects in the US and UK during his corporate stint, Rafiq Ilyas Sheikh has now entered public life from Malwani, saying he wants to work for those who struggle most with failing civic systems. He currently works in construction and trades FMCG products, but his political focus is firmly on social infrastructure, especially women’s education. Sheikh points to Malwani’s dense congestion and poor pedestrian safety, arguing women bear the brunt of unsafe, unwalkable streets. He also flags the condition of public hospitals, calling them under-equipped and inadequate for the locality’s population. Sheikh says land parcels in the area could be utilised to create higher education institutes for women, while safety and cleanliness will remain central to his ward-level agenda.

Shabana Mohammed Farooq Qazi, 37

Party: AIMIM | Profession: Homemaker

A homemaker who stepped into politics after her Cheetah Camp ward was declared a women’s ward, Shabana Qazi says she drew inspiration from her husband’s political work with the AIMIM. Her immediate civic priorities are basic but urgent: drainage failures, garbage accumulation, and poor cleanliness in narrow bylanes, concerns that residents often deal with daily. Qazi also wants to build a local garden and says she has already identified space for it, arguing parks can help pull children away from excessive mobile phone use and provide safe recreational areas. Education, however, is where she wants to leave a lasting mark. She is concerned about the number of children out of school in the locality and says she will push to reintegrate them into the education system, including acting against parents who send children to work instead of sending them to classrooms.

Yeshwant Killedar, 55

Party: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) | Profession: Labour consultant; clothes shop owner

A former Maharashtra High School topper with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Yeshwant Killedar brings an academic edge to his first civic term from Dadar (Ward 192). He has also served on the Mumbai University senate board. Killedar says erratic water supply remains the ward’s most urgent issue, pointing out that residents, especially women, still struggle daily to secure water. He also wants to tackle the growing hawker presence near Dadar station and address the area’s worsening traffic, parking chaos and pollution. Construction dust and poor compliance with pollution-control guidelines, he says, are adding to the burden. “Clean roads, gardens and footpaths, isn’t the BMC about ensuring basic services?” he asked, signalling a focus on core civic upkeep.

Roshan Irfan Shaikh, 33

Party: AIMIM | Profession: Law student

A Govandi resident and a final-semester law student, Roshan Irfan Shaikh is set to become a lawyer soon, a journey she began after marriage. “I was Class 12 pass when I got married and took up law education post my marriage,” she said. Now a first-time corporator, Shaikh says her priority is ensuring basic civic services, with a strong focus on healthcare delivery. While the locality has a public hospital, she alleges doctors are not consistently available and wants to push for regular, functional medical services. She also plans to act on hygiene and sanitation issues, pointing to dysfunctional local toilets that, she says, are often misused by anti-social elements. Fixing cleanliness, restoring public facilities and improving accountability in civic services form the core of her agenda.

Ankit Prabhu, 29

Party: Shiv Sena (UBT) | Profession: Civil engineer

A civil engineer with a law degree, Ankit Prabhu, a first-time corporator from Goregaon, says he wants to bring a problem-solving approach to civic complaints that residents face daily. Water supply, he says, is the most persistent issue across both slum pockets and residential buildings, with complaints ranging from low pressure to contamination. Prabhu says he plans to identify the precise cause and location of faults in the supply network to ensure lasting repairs. He also pointed to never-ending roadworks as a recurring problem in the ward, saying he will push for tighter timelines and accountability to ensure projects are completed on time, without leaving roads dug up indefinitely.

Rekha Ram Yadav, 35

Party: Shiv Sena | Profession: (not specified)

Rekha Ram Yadav has been elected as a first-time corporator from Ward 1, which includes Dahisar’s sprawling Ganpat Patil Nagar slum pocket, along with Kandarpada and IC Colony. In Ganpat Patil Nagar, residents have long complained of basic civic deficiencies, including unreliable water supply, poor sanitation and inadequate healthcare access.