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New poll quota draw reshapes Mumbai’s political turf, veteran corporators lose out
The draw, held at the Balgandharva Rangmandir in Bandra west, decided which of the city’s 227 civic wards would be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and women
MUMBAI: Mumbai’s political landscape witnessed a dramatic churn on Tuesday as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced the results of its new ward reservation lottery, altering the fortunes of several stalwart corporators and former mayors.
The draw, held at the Balgandharva Rangmandir in Bandra west, decided which of the city’s 227 civic wards would be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and women, a process that will reshape campaign strategies across parties ahead of the civic polls to be held in January 2026.
Under the new framework, 61 wards will be reserved for OBCs, 15 for SCs, two for STs and 74 for women in the general category; 75 wards remain open.
Of the 227 seats up for election, half have been reserved for women – a total of 114 seats. Of these, 8 are in the SC category, 1 in STs, 31 seats for OBCs, and 74 seats in the general category.
However, the rotation hit hard: 40 of the 61 OBC-reserved seats and six of the 15 SC-reserved wards were previously general category, while 37 wards, some held by well-known male corporators, are now marked for women.
One of the most impacted is F North ward, encompassing Matunga and Sion, where nine out of ten wards have been reserved for women.
Former leader of the opposition and veteran corporator Ravi Raja, who recently joined the BJP after decades with the Congress, found himself without a ward to contest. “My ward in F North is now reserved as an OBC ladies’ ward,” Raja said. “This is a major disadvantage, but I will work for the party and ensure BJP candidates win the elections.”
In G South ward, former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar’s ward (199) has been reserved for women, but most other wards once represented by mayors have been allotted to the OBC category.
Vishaka Raut, a seasoned Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former mayor from Dadar’s ward 191, saw her seat reserved for a OBC candidate. “My ward is now for OBC ladies. This will impact elections, but the party will decide the next step. Stalwarts losing out means youngsters will get a chance this time,” Raut said.
Also impacted by the rotation is Sena (UBT)’s Tejasvee Ghosalkar (ward 1, Dahisar), whose husband Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead last year.
Another former mayor, Milind Vaidya of the Shiv Sena, from Mahim (ward 182), and BJP’s Neil Somaiya from Mulund (ward 108) have lost out to reservation.
In the city’s elite A ward in South Mumbai, the politically entrenched Narwekar family will swap wards – Harshita Narwekar’s ward 226 in Cuffe Parade is reserved for an OBC candidate, while Makarand Narwekar’s ward 227 in Colaba is reserved for women. “Luckily, this reservation hasn’t impacted us. I’ll contest from Makarand’s ward, and he’ll contest from mine,” Harshita said.
Congress corporator Asif Zakaria has also found himself without an open seat. “In H West ward in Bandra west, only ward 102 is open,” he said. “I’ve moved between wards as they kept getting reserved. Now all are for ladies or ladies-OBC. It’s for the party to decide what happens next,” Zakaria said.
The BMC administration will submit the lottery outcome to the State Election Commission. A draft list will be published on November 14, with citizens allowed to file objections until November 20. The final ward reservation list will be released on November 28.
This marks the first election under the state’s new ‘BMC Manner of Allotment and Rotation of Reservation of Seats of Councillors in Wards Rules, 2025’, notified by the state urban development department on October 9. The rules prioritise wards with higher populations of SC, ST, OBC, and women for reservation.
The long-delayed BMC elections are now scheduled for January 2026. With the city’s richest civic body under administrative rule since 2022, the new reservation matrix has set the stage for an intense political reshuffle, one that could redefine Mumbai’s civic power balance.
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