The last Muslim Mayor Mumbai saw (A.U. Memon) was 43 years ago. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
As Maharashtra heads to elections today for 29 municipal corporations, all eyes are on Mumbai, where the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is fighting against the Thackerays for control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This election is being closely watched for many reasons. First, the estranged Thackeray cousins — Raj and Uddhav — have reunited after two decades in the hope of consolidating the Marathi vote bank. Second, unlikely alliances have been formed in Mumbai since the split of the two main regional parties of Maharashtra — the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In this election, both the Senas are fighting against each other, ostensibly for the same vote bank. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is fighting in alliance with the ruling BJP, while the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is fighting against them, bereft of the Congress’s support. Meanwhile, both the NCP and the NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) are fighting against the BJP, though the NCP led by Ajit Pawar is part of the State government alongside the saffron party.
The election for the BMC is being compared to the recent Mayoral election of New York City (NYC). Mumbai, like NYC, is a financial powerhouse; a cultural melting pot with sizeable migrant populations; a city that never sleeps. Like NYC, it stands on the toil and sweat of several migrants and communities who have contributed to the city’s wealth over generations. But during this campaign, the connection ran deeper. This was clear not only in the BJP’s fear-mongering about the possibility of a Muslim becoming Mayor, but also in how Mr. Raj Thackeray inverted NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s advocacy of the ‘politics of the periphery’ as a route to power.
The last Muslim Mayor Mumbai saw was 43 years ago. The fear that the BJP tried to spread in this election was not just about the possibility of a Muslim Mayor; it was also about the changing demography of the city, which the party linked to a lack of safety. “We warn of a particular community’s silent demographic and cultural invasion. What happened at Bondi Beach, Australia, could happen at Girgaum Chowpatty tomorrow. Illegal encroachments and infiltration have been backed by political patronage in Mumbai slums. Shiv Sena UBT former Cabinet minister settled Bangladeshis and the Rohingya in Mumbai slums,” said Ameet Satam, BJP Mumbai president. “We will not allow the colour of Mumbai to change, and we will not allow the Mamdanisation of Mumbai,” he added. Citing a study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mr. Satam claimed that the Hindu population in Mumbai dwindled from 88% in 1951 to 66% in 2011, while the Muslim population increased from 8% to 21% in the same period.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Waris Pathan then declared that a burqewali (a burqa-clad woman) would become Mayor. This comment was picked up by the BJP to taunt Mr. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. The party claimed that since the Shiv Sena (UBT) did not hit back at the AIMIM, a ‘Khan’ would become the Mayor of Mumbai if the Shiv Sena (UBT) was voted to power.
The Shiv Sena (UBT), which has been trying to appeal to the minority vote bank, refrained from commenting on the issue. This further emboldened the BJP to target Mr. Uddhav Thackeray. When asked about it, party leader Aaditya Thackeray said, “It is not Zohran Mamdani that the BJP is targeting individually. The party has problems with a leader democratically elected by NYC as its Mayor. Since it does not have the courage to criticise [U.S. President Donald] Trump on his tariff policy, it has targeted Mr. Mamdani. There is no doubt that a Marathi person will become the Mayor of Mumbai.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Mamdani’s campaign also caught the imagination of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray. The ‘politics of periphery’ refers to a political approach that links local issues affecting marginalised communities with broader global struggles. Mr. Mamdani focused on bringing marginalised communities, long overlooked in traditional politics, to the centre of the political discourse. But Mr. Raj Thackeray turned this concept on its head, arguing that the “original” inhabitants of Mumbai have been pushed to the periphery.
A city that thrives on plurality cannot be governed through fear of the ‘other’ without its social cohesion being undermined.
Published – January 15, 2026 12:20 am IST
