Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the next Mumbai mayor will be from the ruling Mahayuti and “both Hindu and Marathi”, amid claims and counter-claims by political parties over who should occupy the city’s top civic post. “The Mumbai mayor will be from the Mahayuti. The Mumbai mayor will be a Hindu and a Marathi person,” CM Fadnavis said, responding to a question. After uniting with the Sena (UBT) chief and his cousin Uddhav Thackeray recently, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray had declared that “Mumbai’s mayor will be Marathi, and he will be ours”. CM Fadnavis has now sharpened the BJP’s pitch by stating that Mumbai will have a Hindu and Marathi mayor, further intensifying the political sparring as campaigning for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections gathers pace.

Source: The Hindu January 02, 2026 14:52 UTC