Sixty-five corporators of Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a dramatic walkout from the BMC's first general body meeting on Wednesday afternoon, tearing up the speech of Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi and flinging the pieces of paper in the air
Mayor Ritu Tawde and Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi address a press conference on Wednesday. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Sixty-five corporators of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) staged a dramatic walkout from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC's) first general body meeting (House) on Wednesday afternoon, tearing up the speech of Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi and flinging the pieces of paper in the air. The corporators walked out right after the Mumbai’s new mayor, Ritu Tawde, finished her address before the House, and Ghadi was about to begin his speech.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators were miffed as the senior-most member of the house, Shraddha Jadhav, who is a seven time corporator from Shiv Sena (UBT), was not given the chance to preside over the first session, as is the tradition in BMC. The House was instead presided over by Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who as per protocol, also announced the names of the city’s new mayor and deputy mayor.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Corporator and former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar raised a point of objection in the House over the issue and said, "It is BMC's tradition that the senior most corporator presides over the first session to elect the mayor of Mumbai, and then the floor is handed over to the mayor, regardless of the political party they belong to. We want to know why was this tradition not followed. This raises doubts over how we will all work for the benefit of Mumbai together."
Pednekar also questioned the "haste" with which a government circular was issued on January 23, 2026, by the urban development department against a government notification of January 22, appointing Gagrani as the presiding officer for the mayor and deputy mayor’s election. In response, referring to the government notification and the circular, Gagrani dismissed the point of objection in capacity of his position as presiding officer.
Mumbai Mayor Election 2026: Ritu Tawde says opposition walkout compromised House’s dignity
The opposition was also miffed as Tawde did not pay homage to or mention Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray in her speech. Tawde paid homage to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and mentioned 11 other leaders in the opening address.
Meanwhile, addressing the issue of the opposition staging a walkout, Tawde said, "We all saw today how the opposition tore papers and flung them in the air, littering the House. The House's dignity was compromised. They [opposition] are left with no issues on Mumbai’s development because they did not do the work during their tenure. So only this can be expected now."
"As the mayor of Mumbai, my aim is to ensure that I preside over the House in a neutral way, without causing and tolerating with commotion, respecting the opposition and taking their views into consideration as well," she added.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
