Historic Shift: BMC's Longest Administrator Rule Ends

After nearly four years under administrator rule, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) witnessed a historic change on Wednesday as BJP corporator Ritu Tawde was elected Mumbai's 78th Mayor. She took her position amid the formation of a new 227-member House following last month's civic polls.

The BMC, established in 1888, had been under the control of senior bureaucrats since March 2022. Initially, it was Iqbal Singh Chahal who stepped in after the term of corporators ended. Bhushan Gagrani succeeded him in March 2024, managing India's richest civic body with a budget exceeding Rs 74,400 crore.

This administrative takeover marks only the second such instance in the BMC's history, with the first administrator rule dating back to the mid-1980s when elections were delayed due to political issues. The change comes after elections for 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra were concluded in January, officially ending the tenure of the BMC administrator.