A dispute over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s pollution-free Diwali campaign has split Mumbai’s civic leadership, with Mayor Ritu Tawde seeking prior approval over celebrity-led campaigns while Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi defended actor Dia Mirza’s appeal against firecrackers.
Tawde said on Monday that the names of celebrities engaged for BMC campaigns must be brought to her notice and cleared by her in future. She said she had not been informed that Mirza had been selected for the campaign and would raise the matter with the civic administration.
The mayor also objected to Mirza’s public positions, describing the actor as anti-Hindu and saying she opposed people who had spoken against Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his campaigns. “Those who oppose Hindutva, we will oppose them. Henceforth, the BMC should not make any public statement without my approval,” Tawde said, according to the Times of India.
The disagreement centres on the civic body’s appeal asking residents to avoid firecrackers during Diwali. The campaign featured Mirza, whose message came under criticism from BJP leadership. The controversy also raised questions over whether the actor’s appeal had been removed from the BMC’s social media handles.
Tawde said BMC communications involving celebrities should be communicated to her in advance. Referring to a social media post by Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam opposing the campaign, she said it reflected the position of all BJP corporators. She added that Mirza was free to post on her personal accounts, but content published through the BMC’s official handles should not be released without the ruling party’s approval.
Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi took a different position. He said he did not believe Mirza had said anything wrong by urging citizens not to burst firecrackers and questioned why her message had been removed. Ghadi also said there was no reason for Satam or Tawde to oppose the appeal.
The dispute places a routine civic awareness campaign within a wider question about how municipal communication is authorised and managed. BMC campaigns typically address public behaviour and civic concerns, but the disagreement has brought the selection of campaign faces, control over official digital platforms and the role of elected representatives into focus.
The immediate operational issue is whether future BMC campaigns featuring public figures will require approval from the mayor or the ruling party before publication. The supplied report does not specify whether the BMC administration has issued a formal order changing its approval process or whether any new written guidelines have been adopted.
Tawde said she would take up the matter with the civic administration. No further administrative decision or revised campaign protocol was reported in the supplied account.
