Mumbai gets first woman BMC commissioner as Ashwini Bhide replaces Bhushan Gagrani

MUMBAI: The state govt on Tuesday appointed Ashwini Bhide as the city’s Municipal Commissioner. Bhide is the first woman BMC chief since the BMC was set up over 160 years ago.

Bhide who is an IAS officer of the 1995 batch retires in 2030 and could get a full three year tenure as BMC chief.

IAS officer Lokesh Chandra who was Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) replaces Bhide as Additional Chief Secretary in the CMO.

Bhide will continue to hold additional charge as MD of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC). DCM Eknath Shinde on Monday night met CM Devendra Fadnavis at Varsha, the CM’s official residence.

Shinde’s meeting with CM Fadnavis led to speculation that the pending transfers of senior IAS officers in the state were discussed, especially the next Municipal Commissioner of BMC.

Both CM Fadnavis and DCM Shinde are said to have had different choices for the BMC’s top post but the CM's choice prevailed. Bhide replaces current Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani who retired on Tuesday.

Bhide inherits a massive budget of Rs over 80,000 crore and several high-stakes urban challenges. For now her primary hurdles involve managing critical infrastructure, pre-monsoon readiness, and long-standing civic issues.

However with the BJP now ruling the BMC in alliance with the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena and the opposition led by Sena (UBT) also having a significant number of Corporators, Bhide will also have to do some political management and balancing act to get projects delivered and policies pushed.