Three Women, Distinct Voices in Mumbai’s BMC Polls

Mumbai goes to poll for the much-awaited BMC elections on January 15. This high-stake battle will elect 227 councillors (Nagarsevak) for the next five years. This is the first civic elections after the Covid pandemic and a period of unprecedented political turmoil in Maharashtra. 

Amid this contest, these women candidates are bringing distinctive voices into electoral politics.

Pranali Raut — Aam Aadmi Party

Pranali Girish Raut, 50, is contesting the BMC election 2026 from Ward 190 (Mahim) on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket. Raut stands out for her leadership of the ‘Save Marathi Schools’ movement, which has shaped her political identity. 

Raut has consistently used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to expose the closure of BMC-run Marathi schools and the politics surrounding their demolition, turning transparency into a tool of resistance and public accountability.

She has been mobilising parents, local residents and former students of BMC schools in Mahim to create awareness on the issue of BMC-run Marathi schools. Information she obtained through RTI applications played a key role in strengthening the Marathi Abhyas Kendra’s agitations and campaigns to save Marathi-medium schools. She has been part of every protest and has remained consistently vocal on the issue from the outset.

Recently, the Mumbai police issued her a summons in connection with a chargesheet against her and other activists who participated in a silent protest march for saving Marathi schools. This week, Mumbai police sent her another letter asking her not to appear in court. 

Hailing from a farmer’s family in Palghar district, she earned BA degree and has been active in social movements since 2005. Her husband, Girish Raut, is a well-known environmental expert, who contributed to the “Save Mithi River” campaign. Raut, with her husband, has been advocating for environmental causes from hyperlocal issues to creating awareness about global warming, climate change. 

Pranali Raut joined AAP in 2022, hoping to bring change through electoral politics. Her work on grassroots level for restoring public spaces such as playgrounds, solving civic issues of citizens, raising voice against demolitions of BMC schools gained her popularity in her constituency. 

Raut is busy wrapping her final phase of campaigning. Her campaigning doesn’t have star campaigners, big rallies or public events. Raut is visiting door to door, communicating with people, distributing leaflets with her activists. AAP leader Preeti Menon joined one of her campaigns, rest everything is low-key with committed karykartas and limited resources.  

Raut will be facing two strong women candidates in her constituency Sheetal Gambhir of the BJP and Vaishali Patankar of UBT-MNS alliance. 

“I want to protect public spaces, save Marathi schools, ensure free healthcare for all, and free buses for women. But most importantly, I aim to bring environment and climate change into the political mainstream. Our current urban policies lack the intersection of development, environmental justice and climate change. I am determined to change this,” Raut told the Outlook.

Pradnya Prabhulkar - RWPI

Comrade Pradnya Prabhulkar, 32, is contesting BMC election from Ward-140 (Mankhurd-Govandi) on the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) ticket. Prabhulkar doesn’t come from an affluent background and her campaign is mostly crowdfunded. She along with RWPI activists are campaigning around civic issues but with a larger narrative of countering crony capitalism and corporate financing of political parties. 

Prabhulkar's activism is shaped by her organic engagement with mass movements and her pursuit of civic issues of M East Ward. She has been associated with RWPI for more than seven years. Her father retired is a Class IV employee from the health department of the BMC and mother a homemaker. Prabhulkar runs the public library, Muktiche swar (Voice of liberation), a Savitri-Fatima community space for adolescents and women. 

RWPI organised various campaigns and public meetings to promote Prabhulkar and other candidates. The Party highlighted local concerns, including the privatisation of government hospitals, poor waste management, and the failure of civic services. 

The manifesto centres on public healthcare, education, employment, pollution, and rising substance abuse, with Prabhulkar pledging to complete stalled civic works through people’s participation instead of contractor-led systems.

Addressing residents in Gautam Nagar, Prabhulkar sought votes to stop hospital privatisation, improve drainage, build clean toilets, children’s libraries, affordable gyms, and public gardens, and to act against polluting companies.

RWPI supporters expressed solidarity by extending financial support to the working campaign cantred around class politics. 

On January 9, marking the birth anniversary of Fatima Sheikh, colleague of Savitribai Phule, Prabhulkar highlighted the legacy of Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh through door-to-door campaigning. 

Samya Korde -- Shetakari Kamgar Paksha (Workers & Peasants Party) 

Samya Korde, 25, is seen as the most promising Gen-Z leader. Contesting BMC elections from Ward 187, Dharavi, from Workers and Peasants Party, Korde has been vocal about the Dharavi redevelopment project led by the Adani group, raising concerns over housing rights allegedly denied to thousands of residents.

Korde comes from a non-traditional political background. Her father Raju Korde is well-known activist with the Workers and Peasants Party and founder of ‘Dharavi Times’, a local newspaper challenging the stereotype about the area. She has been active in Dharavi since 2018, and mobilised residents around civic issues and faced police detention during protests.

A graduate from Ruia College, she went on to complete a law degree, strengthening her grounding in rights-based politics.

“Dharavi belongs to the Bhumiputras (Natives) of the land and Koli community. No redevelopment can take place without their active participation,” says Korde in her campaign pitch. 

Her understanding of coalition politics translated into her active campaigning for MVA (INDIA Bloc) in Maharashtra for both 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. 

Korde actively campaigned for MVA allies, including senior leader Anil Desai of Shiv Sena (UBT) for Lok Sabha elections. Desai won from Mumbai, South Central Lok Sabha constituency, which covers Dharavi. 

Korde believes in working-class politics and she communicates Marxist ideas through accessible cultural practices like organising a bhandara on Karl Marx’s birth anniversary. In her debut election, Korde promises improved civic services including water, sanitation, drainage and the restoration of housing rights for Dharavi’s residents.