Mumbai / Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar elected Mumbai’s new Mayor

Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar, 56, was formally elected the city’s 77th Mayor on Friday morning. Pednekar is a three-time corporator from Lower Parel in South Mumbai. Suhas Wadkar, also from the Sena, was elected deputy mayor of Mumbai.

Pednekar started her term with appeals to the people of Mumbai to save water and to municipal officials to focus on pothole-free roads. She also urged Mumbai’ites to increase use of BEST buses to reduce congestion on roads and reduce pollution.

“I understand that my top priorities as the Mayor of Mumbai are improving civic amenities for the city, and keeping the city safe and secure,” Kishori Pednekar said.

Pednekar and her new deputy Wadkar were elected unopposed since no other political parties had staked claim to the post. Mumbai’s former mayor Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar was elected after the 2017 civic polls, with BJP giving Sena outside support for the post. This time, the BJP decided not to contest the elections. Mahadeshwar’s term ended in September this year.

Shiv Sena is the largest party in the 227-member strong civic body, with 91 corporators. The BJP has 81 members followed by Congress (29), NCP (8), Samajwadi Party (6), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (2), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (1) , Akhil Bharatiya Sena (1) and Independent corporators (4).

Born to a mill worker, Pednekar had started out as a nurse before she joined Shiv Sena women wing in 1992 and was sent to work in Raigad and Sindhudurg districts in Western Maharashtra.

Pednekar became a corporator in Mumbai in 2002 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2017. During her three terms, Pednekar has held key positions in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) including as a member of the standing committee that scrutinises the civic agency’s financial transactions.