14 November,2019 07:50 AM IST | Mumbai | A correspondent
The mayor's current residence in Byculla zoo. File pic
As the Shiv Sena awaits support from Congress and NCP for forming the state government, the Congress leader in BMC on Wednesday cleared that the party would field a candidate for the mayor's post soon. The mayor's election is scheduled for November 22. The BJP group leader hasn't cleared his stand on the post yet.
The Mumbai mayor's election has become a point of discussion over the past couple of days owing to the political scenario in the state. A draw of lots to decide reservation for the mayor's post was declared on Wednesday, with the BMC getting an open category for the second time in a row. Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, the current mayor, was also from the same category. Shiv Sena with 94 corporators and BJP with 84 corporators are still together in the BMC but after the current tussle over the state government formation, BJP group leader and MP Manoj Kotak remained tight-lipped over the mayor candidacy. "Let's see what happens in the state. We will decide later," said Kotak. Ravi Raja, Congress corporator and leader of opposition, said, "We are in the opposition in the BMC and our candidate will contest the election." He added that if the BJP fielded its candidate, it would be an interesting election.
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Even after its tussle with the alliance partner BJP, the Sena has a strong possibility of selecting a mayor from its corporators. In the Sena, 57 corporators are in the open category and 25 of them are men). There is a chance that one of these will feature as Sena's candidate and the next mayor will be from south Mumbai. Anant Nar, Sadanand Parab, Anil Kokil, Ramakant Rahate, Kishori Pednekar, Ashish Chemburkar, Mangesh Satamkar, Shubhada Gudhekar are some of the corporators who have high chances of being declared as Sena's candidate.
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