Sena corporator and ex-Mumbai Mayor Vishakha Raut disqualified for 6 years

Opposition party Shiv Sena in Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) faces a setback after its senior corporator and ex-Mayor, Vishakha Raut, was disqualified from election for six years. This decision came from Maharashtra Government's Urban Development Department, following a cancellation of Raut's OBC caste certificate by the caste scrutiny committee in Palghar on August 21.

Raut, who represented the 191 ward encompassing Shivaji Park and Dadar West, had won the ward in January 2023 by a margin of 167 votes against Priya Sarvankar Gurav from the same party. The ward, previously reserved for OBC women candidates, now has an empty seat as Raut's disqualification has rendered her position vacant.

The disqualification order was issued, declaring Raut ineligible for election or to hold the position for a period of six years, starting from the 20th of August, 2026. This marks the fifth corporator from the opposition fold to be disqualified, but it is the first instance where the urban development department has directly disqualified a corporator.

Prior to Raut, Deepak Sawant of Shiv Sena in ward 111, AIMIM's Sameer Ramzan Patel of ward 137, and two more corporators - Roshan Shaikh of AIMIM and Bushra Nadeem Malik of NCP - were similarly disqualified due to invalid caste certificates scrutinized by the committee.