Caste Certificate Cancellation Sparks Political Clash in Dadar

The Dadar corporator seat has become a fresh flashpoint between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Shinde factions after the Palghar Caste Scrutiny Committee rejected Shiv Sena (UBT) senior corporator Vishakha Raut's Other Backward Class (OBC) certificate, as reported by the Free Press Journal. The decision has triggered competing demands from the two factions, with the UBT camp seeking to protect Raut's position and the Shinde camp pressing for action under the BMC Act.

The Palghar District Caste Verification Committee cancelled Raut's OBC certificate on August 21, according to The Times of India, following a complaint challenging its validity. Raut, a former Mumbai mayor, represents the politically significant Dadar–Shivaji Park area, where she retained Shiv Sena (UBT)'s OBC-reserved Ward 191 in one of the BMC election's closest fights.

Gurav Demands Disqualification

Shiv Sena's Priya Gurav met BMC chief Ashwini Bhide on Tuesday and demanded Raut's disqualification, alleging that Raut had contested the OBC-reserved ward using an invalid Kunbi caste certificate during the 2026 civic polls, as reported by The Times of India. Gurav cited the August 21 order of the Palghar committee in her representation to Bhide and said she had received a copy of the order via email.

Gurav, daughter of former Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar, had contested the 2026 BMC polls against Raut from Ward 191 in Dadar, which was reserved for women from the OBC category, and lost. Raut had submitted an OBC certificate to establish her eligibility for the reserved seat, but the Palghar committee invalidated it last week.

Raut alleged the decision was taken under political pressure from Shiv Sena, according to The Times of India. She maintained that she belongs to the OBC category and said her family's ancestral village is in Palghar district.

UBT Seeks to Block Disqualification

A UBT delegation met BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide on Monday and contended that Raut cannot be disqualified at this stage since she has three months to challenge the scrutiny panel's decision before the Konkan Divisional Commissioner, as reported by the Free Press Journal. The delegation argued that no action should be taken against her until the legal process is exhausted.

Raut said: "We have apprised the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner of the new circular. Since I am filing an appeal, I have requested that my post neither be declared vacant nor I be disqualified until the appeal is decided," as quoted by the Free Press Journal.

Meanwhile, the Shinde faction also met Bhide and pressed the civic administration to act under the provisions of the BMC Act, according to the Free Press Journal. Amey Ghole, Shiv Sena (Shinde) group leader in the BMC, said the Caste Scrutiny Committee's order came in favor of Priya Sarvankar, as reported by the Free Press Journal. Sarvankar is another name used for Gurav in some reports.

The Tightest Contest

Raut polled 13,236 votes to defeat Gurav, who secured 13,039 votes, by a razor-thin margin of 197 votes in Ward 191, as reported by both the Free Press Journal and The Times of India. With only two candidates in the fray, the contest was a straight political face-off, making Raut's narrow victory particularly significant. The Times of India described it as one of the tightest contests in this round of the BMC elections.

Precedent: Four Corporators Disqualified

So far, four BMC corporators have been disqualified over invalid caste validity certificates, as reported by The Times of India: Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Deepak Sawant from Ward 111 in Bhandup, AIMIM's Sameer Ramzan Patel from Ward 137 in Govandi, AIMIM's Roshan Shaikh from Ward 138, and NCP's Bushra Nadeem Malik from Ward 170 in Kurla East. Several of the disqualified corporators have challenged the decisions in court, according to The Times of India.