Despite winning 118 seats in the civic body, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is likely to head only eight of Mumbai’s 18 ward committees; ward committees, which function as ward-level equivalents of the standing committee, enable closer engagement with local communities
BMC headquarters in Fort. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Despite the Mahayuti alliance comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena winning 118 seats in the 227-member general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it will control less than half of Mumbai’s 18 ward committees.
Of the 18 ward committees, nine are likely to have chairpersons from Opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), Indian National Congress (INC), and AIMIM, while eight committees are expected to be headed by the BJP. One committee is likely to see a tie.
Prominent city areas such as Worli-Prabhadevi, Lower Parel, Dadar, Mahim, Bandra East and West, Colaba-Byculla, Jogeshwari, Malad East and West, and Kurla are expected to go to the Opposition due to the number of elected representatives in these jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has retained control in its stronghold areas, including Malabar Hill, Andheri, Goregaon, Kandivli, Borivli, Dahisar, and Ghatkopar. AIMIM is likely to secure the ward committee chairmanship in Govandi.
Ward committees, which function as ward-level equivalents of the standing committee, enable closer engagement with local communities. They address hyperlocal civic issues such as sanitation, waste management, water supply works, and minor infrastructure projects.
“In the particular ward, if ward committee chairman is from the ruling party, funds and works are more likely to get channelled to areas with corporators from the ruling party. It is better than there are more ward committees with chairman's from the opposition, to ensure uniform development of the entire ward, curbing favouritism to a big extent. The hope is that seats allotted for citizens representatives are actually given to citizens, instead of those people who lost in the elections from the area,” said Nikhil Desai, a resident of Matunga and associated with AGNI(Action for Good Governance and Networking in India).
227
No. of electoral wards in BMC
What is a ward committee?
Mumbai’s 26 administrative wards have been grouped into 18 ward committees. These statutory bodies comprise elected corporators from the respective electoral wards and up to three nominated community representatives. Each ward committee comprises one or more administrative wards clubbed together. They handle local civic issues such as sanitation, street lighting, and minor infrastructure works, and have the authority to approve projects worth up to R5 lakh at the ward level. Each committee is chaired by a chairperson chosen from among the elected representatives of the grouped wards.
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