13 November,2025 07:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Eeshanpriya MS
The ward reservation draw is conducted ahead of the municipal elections. FILE PIC/sayyed SAMEER ABEDI
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) reservation lottery revealed that at least two administrative wards in the areas of Sion-Dharavi-Matunga and Andheri in the western suburbs will have a majority of women candidates. The civic body on Tuesday finalised reservations for 227 wards for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
As per the reservation, the F North administrative ward, with 10 electoral wards from 172 to 181, has a total of eight wards reserved for women. Two of these eight wards have been reserved in the OBC (women) category, and six others have been reserved in the general (women) category. This amounts to 80 per cent reservation for women in this area. Prominent women corporators such as Rajeshree Shirwadkar from the BJP, Nehal Shah (BJP), and Pushpa Koli, who was elected from ward 181 in 2017, have now become an open ward.
Similarly, the K East administrative ward, with a total of 15 electoral wards ranging from 72 to 86, has 10 wards reserved for women. Two out of these 10 wards are reserved under the OBC (women) category, while the remaining eight have been reserved under the general (women) category. Prominent women leaders from the ward include BJP's Ujwala Modak, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Sawant, and Congress's Vinnifred D'Souza.
According to the breakup from the reservation lottery, of the 227 electoral wards in the city, 74 are reserved for women, 31 for OBC (women), eight for Scheduled Castes (women), and one for Scheduled Tribes (women). Suggestions and objections against the reservations drawn for each ward can be submitted to BMC until November 14, following which the final list of reservations against electoral wards will be issued.
A senior BJP leader said, "Earlier, the wards which were reserved for women in the previous elections were automatically concluded to be not reserved for women in the subsequent elections. That was not the case this year, as elections are being held after three years. So this is purely a letter of a lucky draw."
