Mumbai: Ritu Tawde on Wednesday, February 11, paid homage to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and late Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray at Dadar's Shivaji Park, hours after taking oath as Mayor of Mumbai. She was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi.
While speaking to reporters, Tawde announced that the civic administration will intensify checks on hawkers in both licensed and unlicensed zones to ensure compliance with regulations. "If anyone attempts to illegally encroach on the footpaths, or if Bangladeshis come and sit here as illegal hawkers, their papers will be checked. If so, they will be handed over to the police," she said.
She also spoke on the issue of the rising air pollution levels and said that digital boards will be installed across the city. "Wherever development work is underway, we're going to tell builders that they should pay maximum attention to cleanliness, and if air pollution is increasing, their work should be halted for a while," she added.
Meanwhile, Tawde was elected as the 78th Mayor of Mumbai, becoming the second BJP corporator to occupy the prestigious post in 44 years, while Shiv Sena's Sanjay Ghadi was elected as deputy mayor. Both Tawde and Ghadi were elected unopposed at a special meeting of the general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) following the January 15 civic elections. The Shiv Sena (UBT) and other opposition parties did not field a candidate. Moreover, the first BJP Mayor was in 1982-83 when Prabhakar Pai held the post. Tawde's election as Mumbai Mayor marked the end of the Thackeray family's dominance in Mumbai's politics.
In the 2026 BMC elections, Ritu Tawde was elected from Ghatkopar's Ward 132, while Ghadi was elected from Dahisar's Ward 5. In the elections to the 227-member BMC last month, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 89 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena won 29 seats. The ruling alliance thus crossed the halfway mark of 114.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), headed by Uddhav Thackeray, won 65 seats, while its allies, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP), won six and one seats, respectively. The undivided Shiv Sena, headed by the Thackeray family, had ruled the civic body for 25 years since 1997.
Tawde, who was originally with the Congress, joined the BJP in 2012 and was elected as a corporator from the Ghatkopar area in the same year. She has served as chairperson of the BMC's education committee. She was in the limelight during her previous term for raising the issue of 'objectionable' clothing of mannequins in shops. Tawde lost to the undivided Shiv Sena candidate from Ghatkopar East in the 2017 civic elections. After joining the BJP, she held key positions in the party's women's wing.
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