As stated by BJP Mumbai president Amit Satam, an agreement has been reached on 207 of the 227 seats, according to news agency PTI.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, December 27, Satam mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 128 seats, while the Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, will field candidates in 79 wards.
“Consensus has been achieved on 207 seats for the BMC, with the BJP contesting 128 and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena contesting 79. Discussions are ongoing for the remaining 20 seats. Decisions regarding these will be made after evaluating the candidates involved,” Satam remarked, as reported by PTI.
The civic elections in Mumbai are set for January 15, 2026, as announced by the State Election Commission (SEC).
Alliance strategy and campaign planning
The BJP and the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena will jointly participate in the Mumbai civic elections, and the Mahayuti alliance also encompasses the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar, Satam indicated.
He noted that a joint meeting between the BJP and Shiv Sena had been convened to finalize the electoral strategy, which includes campaign themes, poll management, and coordinated rallies, according to PTI.
Satam stated that the campaign planning and coordination have already been finalized. He further emphasized that the focus should not solely be on the number of seats, asserting, “It’s not about the number of seats contested. What truly matters is delivering a corruption-free civic administration for Mumbaikars. This alliance is for Hindutva and aims to provide a transparent administration in Mumbai.”
Making a comparison with the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Satam pointed out that party members had previously run under each other’s symbols, with BJP candidates utilizing the Shiv Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ and Sena leaders campaigning on the BJP’s ‘lotus’ symbol.
Political contest and electoral background
The Mahayuti alliance will face opposition from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena under Raj Thackeray’s leadership.
The BMC comprises a total of 227 seats. Mumbai boasts an electorate exceeding 1.03 crore voters, including over 55 lakhs men, more than 48 lakhs women, and 1,099 voters registered as ‘others,’ as reported by PTI.
In the 2017 BMC elections, the then-undivided Shiv Sena emerged as the largest party with 84 seats, followed closely by the BJP with 82. Since then, 46 Sena corporators have switched to the Shinde-led faction, along with 16 corporators from other parties. The BJP has also acquired six corporators from rival parties, according to PTI.
Maharashtra civic poll schedule
The State Election Commission has announced that elections for 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the BMC, will take place in a single phase on January 15, 2026, with counting scheduled for January 16.
The nomination process started on December 23 and will end on December 30, while January 2 is the final date for the withdrawal of nominations. The complete list of candidates will be released on January 3.
