From centre of sway to ceremonial head: Unmaking of India’s mayors

Zohran Mamdani celebrated his historic win in what might have been the world's most closely watched mayoral election with much Indianness on Wednesday.

- Shivani Singh

The victory address by the 34-yearold son of Indian-origin immigrants invoked Jawaharlal Nehru's famous "tryst with destiny" speech. The choice of celebratory Bollywood music also added to the desi flavour.

Back in India, though, many wondered if our own cities could ever experience a similarly politically charged campaign, or a remarkable mayoral feat such as Mamdani’s in New York City.

Perhaps not.

That's simply because the seat ofthe mayor has limited political or even aspirational value in India. In fact, most citizens, including those who step out to vote in municipal elections, can hardly recall the name of their last city mayor, let alone show any interest in who might be elected next.

While the mayor's office in London or New York — or even Manila, Jakarta, Sao Paulo or Mexico City — is often considered a stepping stone in the journey of a politician aspiring to become the prime minister or president, the ambition of our mayors and councillors is usually limited to securing a ticket to contest the Vidhan Sabha (assembly) elections, says Srikanth Viswanathan, chief executive officer of Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.

A lost tradition

It doesn’t help that only five Indian states out of the 18 reviewed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), have a provision for the direct election of mayors. According to the CAG’s performance audits released last year, only nine of these 18 states have mayors with a five-year tenure. The audits on implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) were conducted from 2014 to 2021.

Indian mayors are mostly ceremonial heads.