BMC Mayor Lottery: Mumbai's Mayoral Reservation Draw Today; Thackeray Faction Eyes Opportunity

• The reservation draw for mayoral posts in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra will be held today at 11 AM in the Ministry.
• The draw, based on the 2011 census and rotational method, will determine reservations for the next two-and-a-half-year term.
• Reservations will be decided for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), with 50% of posts reserved for women across all categories.
• Key cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, and Nagpur are under special focus, with the outcome potentially altering political equations.
• In Mumbai, if the mayoral post is reserved for ST, the Thackeray faction (Shiv Sena UBT) could gain power as they have ST corporators, unlike the BJP-Shinde faction.

Why It Matters: Today's BMC mayoral reservation draw could significantly reshape political power in Maharashtra's municipal corporations.