Why Mumbai’s new mayor will be the least empowered countrywide despite 150 years of reforms

Come February 11, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) heritage hall will witness its first general meeting in over four years as Mumbai’s elected corporators convene to appoint the city’s mayor. On Saturday (February 7), the ruling alliance Mahayuti formally announced their candidates for mayor and deputy mayor, who submitted their nominations at the municipal secretary’s office. The BJP has fielded senior corporator Ritu Tawde as mayor, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has nominated Sanjay Shankar Ghadi as deputy mayor. The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) has not fielded a candidate, meaning the Mahayuti’s candidates will run unopposed. In Mumbai, the mayor and the deputy mayor are elected amongst the councillors (corporators) during their first meeting after the general body elections for the BMC. The process to elect the city’s first citizen is enshrined under section 37 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act. The Act also stipulates that the office of a mayor in the corporation is reserved by rotation for categories encompassing “the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Women and the Backward Class of citizens”. ## What powers does the mayor of Mumbai hold? Mumbai’s mayor has a ceremonial role in governance and is largely a figurehead. Elected by and amongst the 227 Mumbai corporators, the mayor holds the coveted title of the city’s ‘First citizen’, and presides over the house operations of the country’s richest municipal body. The actual powers are concentrated in the hands of the BMC’s municipal commissioner, who is a ranked IAS officer and commands executive and administrative control. The mayor across Maharashtra’s municipal corporations is amongst the least empowered mayors in the country, according to the Urban Governance Index report of 2024 published by Praja Foundation. The report, where Maharashtra’s mayors have drawn a score of 0 out of 25 on the question of empowered mayors, shows that the seat of a mayor yields different levels of powers across different Indian states. ## What are the Mumbai mayor’s responsibilities? Once elected, the mayor presides over the deliberations within the house of civic representatives. In their role as the city’s first citizen, the mayor welcomes foreign dignitaries and VVIPs as the face of the BMC and Mumbai. Typically, the party with the most corporators in the civic house retains the seat of mayor. To facilitate smooth house functioning, officials say that a mayor is ideally someone who enjoys goodwill amongst corporators across party lines. Since 1999, a mayor can be appointed for 2.5 years under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1888. Why does the municipal commissioner exercise greater power? The MMC Act, formerly the City of Bombay Municipal Act, 1888, created three coordinated authorities: the municipal corporation, the standing committee and the municipal commissioner. It placed all executive powers in the hands of the commissioner. Thus, the commissioner is authorised to set the agenda, prepare the budget proposal, and control the appointment and transfer of its officials. In contrast, the mayor cannot appoint or transfer civic staff. The commissioner can also override municipal decisions, influencing policies or prioritising projects from the back-end. Sanjay Patil, a political researcher who has extensively studied BMC functioning between 1985 and 2017, deems Mumbai’s municipal body structure a “commissioner system.” “The British administration introduced the elective element in the (MMC) Act to have major control over the municipal body. They ensured a system where all powers were maintained in the hands of the commissioner, who was directly appointed by the colonial powers,” Patil said. “Even though the MMC Act has been amended nearly 150 times over the past decades, its ethos has remained the same.” Milind Mhaske, CEO, Praja Foundation, said that even as the executive remained more powerful than the legislative wing, the administration evolved with time. “At some point during the British era, the BMC also comprised a mayor’s council which comprised the mayor, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, the Mumbai Police commissioner, as well as the municipal commissioner. It was ad-hoc and served as a coordination mechanism, indicating that the system was evolving.” For a brief period in the BMC’s history, the mayor enjoyed more executive powers in 1998 following a proposal mooted by the erstwhile Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. However, the reform was withdrawn within months after concerns over irregularities came to the fore. Despite such attempts, the commissioner continues to enjoy all executive powers in the current system, which researchers like Patil call a mark of the British legacy. In the current context, experts echoed, the municipal commissioner is appointed by the ruling party in a bid to exercise its control over the country’s richest body. How does the Mumbai mayor compare with heads of other municipal bodies in India? The Mumbai mayor is not the lone major head of an Indian municipal body with nominal powers. The mayors of Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh, Goa, Ahmedabad and Shimla do not hold executive powers and cannot chair cabinets. They also lack the independent authority to appoint a chairperson of the standing committee, which makes crucial financial decisions. However, the mayor commands significant executive power in several corporations. According to the Praja Foundation’s Urban Governance Index report of 2024, the mayor is most empowered in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala. In the municipal corporations of Kolkata, Agartala, Guwahati and Raipur, mayors steer a ‘mayor-in-council’ (MIC) type committee which operates like a cabinet. “In a MIC-type system, each member is given a portfolio. This MIC works like a local-level cabinet, with the municipal heads of departments reporting directly to the member head of the MIC. The mayor is appointed as the chairman or head of this MIC,” said Mhaske of Praja Foundation. In the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, the mayor even holds executive authority over the commissioner. In Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand’s Ranchi corporation, and the Bhopal municipal body in Madhya Pradesh, citizens even enjoy the right to directly elect the mayor, unlike Mumbai. However, the power comes with a caveat. “Even though the mayors may have more control, most bodies, like in Kerala or Agartala and Raipur corporation, have very little control over the city administration. By contrast, the BMC is much more powerful as a municipal corporation encompassing all major works in the city,” said Mhaske. Nayonika Bose is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express’ Mumbai bureau. While in the early stages of her career, her focused reporting on local governance and community welfare already demonstrates clear Expertise and Trustworthiness in covering essential civic issues impacting Mumbai's residents. Expertise & Authority (E-E-A-T) Specialized Focus: Nayonika's reporting is dedicated to civic and community issues, providing readers with highly relevant, ground-level information about the functionality and administration of India's largest metropolitan area. Core Coverage Areas: Her articles highlight a strong focus on the fundamental quality of life and public safety in Mumbai, including: Civic Infrastructure: Reports on critical failures and initiatives related to public works, such as the recurring problem of unauthorized building collapses in Navi Mumbai, the construction of new infrastructure projects (like the Dahisar-Bhayandar Link Road and the Mahalaxmi cable-stayed bridge), and the maintenance of essential city services (e.g., manhole cover theft). Urban Governance & Crisis Management: Provides detailed coverage of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) response to major crises, particularly during the monsoon (e.g., heavy rainfall, water cuts, and public health concerns like dengue and malaria) and large-scale public safety incidents (e.g., the hoarding collapse fallout). Community Welfare & Rights: Reports on key social issues, including the financial aid scheme for persons with disabilities, the struggles of Mumbai's hawkers protesting eviction drives, and the dangers faced by workers due to the continuation of manual scavenging in water tanks. Cultural & Heritage Reporting: Covers significant community stories, including the restoration of British-era fountains and the history of institutions like the 126-year-old Chinchpokli cemetery, showing a breadth of interest beyond pure administration. Tweets @nayonikakb ... Read More