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BMC Elections: BJP assures ‘Marathi Manoos’ will be Mumbai’s Mayor if party comes to power
- by Webdesk
- 17 Dec 2025
Source: Hindustan Times
Mumbai: With cousins Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray expected to announce an alliance for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the political discourse in the city is rapidly centering on Marathi identity. Amid this backdrop, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar on Tuesday made a significant declaration, stating that if the BJP-led Mahayuti comes to power, Mumbai will get a “Marathi manoos” as its mayor.
This marks the first time the BJP has openly committed to appointing a Marathi mayor, a move that has gained attention as anonymous posters reading “Marathi manasa, jaga ho!” (Wake up, Marathi people!) have surfaced across Mumbai. These posters urge unity among Marathi residents and warn that Mumbai is being taken away from them, further intensifying the political atmosphere ahead of the civic polls.
Against this politically charged environment, the BJP and the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held crucial seat-sharing discussions for the BMC elections on Tuesday. However, the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), despite being part of the Mahayuti at the state level, is not included in the alliance for the municipal elections.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at the BJP office in Dadar, Shelar asserted with confidence that the next mayor of Mumbai would come from the Mahayuti alliance and would unquestionably be a Marathi individual. He also threw a challenge at the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), urging it to make a similar public commitment regarding the appointment of a Marathi mayor.
Shelar further claimed that the Mahayuti is poised to secure more than 150 of the total 227 seats in the BMC. Despite this assertion, sources familiar with the discussions revealed that the seat-sharing talks between the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena did not reach a final conclusion. The BJP is reportedly keen on contesting around 150 seats, while offering approximately 60 seats to its alliance partner. On the other hand, the Shinde faction has been pushing for a larger share, demanding close to 90 to 100 seats.
At the heart of the disagreement lies the issue of sitting corporators who were elected on the Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket in 2017 but later switched allegiance to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. These former corporators have emerged as a major sticking point in the negotiations. According to a Shiv Sena leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, the BJP is unwilling to concede seats for all the corporators who defected from the Uddhav Thackeray camp. “The BJP has also staked claims on several of these wards and is not prepared to vacate them entirely for the alliance partner,” the leader said. This has led to tension between the two saffron parties.
Another senior leader from the Shinde camp explained that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had assured tickets to all corporators who joined his party, which is now complicating the seat-sharing formula. “To accommodate all those who were inducted, Shinde requires at least 90 to 100 seats. However, the BJP leadership is reluctant to agree to this demand,” the leader noted.
The situation has resulted in a deadlock, with both parties holding firm to their respective positions. While negotiations are expected to continue in the coming days, it remains uncertain whether a mutually agreeable formula will be reached smoothly or after prolonged deliberations. Meanwhile, the political temperature in Mumbai continues to rise as the civic elections draw closer. The potential alliance between the Thackeray cousins, the BJP’s clear pitch to Marathi voters through the mayoral promise, and the unresolved seat-sharing tussle within the Mahayuti have added multiple layers of complexity to the contest.
With Marathi identity, control over India’s richest civic body, and political dominance in Mumbai at stake, the BMC elections are shaping up to be one of the most fiercely fought local body battles in recent years. All eyes are now on the next round of talks, which could determine the final contours of the alliances and set the tone for the high-voltage campaign ahead.
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