BJP’s Ritu Tawde has been named the Mahayuti alliance’s nominee for the post of Mayor of Mumbai, while Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shankar Ghadi has been chosen as the alliance’s candidate for Deputy Mayor. With this announcement, suspense around the BMC mayoral post has now ended. This is also significant, as for the first time in 40 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party is set to have a mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Tawde’s name was confirmed during the BJP councilors’ final strategy meeting at the BMC headquarters.
Who is Ritu Tawde?
Ritu Tawde is a senior BJP corporator with a strong track record in Mumbai’s civic politics. She first won from Ward 127 in 2012 and was elected from Ghatkopar’s Ward 121 in 2017. In the 2025 elections, she had secured a victory from Ward 132. Tawde has also served as the Chairperson of the Education Committee of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and was widely regarded as a strong contender for the mayoral post. She is also a second-term corporator from Ward 132.
Despite being from the Maratha community, Tawde won a ward largely dominated by Gujarati voters, which party leaders cite as evidence of her accessibility and strong local connect. According to BJP officials, Tawde remains active at the grassroots level and is comfortable addressing public concerns.
BMC Elections
In the BMC election 2026 results, the BJP won 89 seats, while the Shiv Sena secured 29 seats out of the total 227 seats. Together, the alliance crossed the majority mark. On the other hand, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) had won 65 seats. Additionally, the MNS secured 6 seats and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) won 1 seat.
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