Mumbai is on track for a significant win for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, marking the city’s first civic polls in nine years. Various exit polls suggest that the alliance, which includes the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, is likely to achieve a solid majority, surpassing the reunited Thackeray cousins, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), despite their united Marathi Manoos campaign.
An exit poll by Axis My India estimates the Mahayuti will win between 131 and 151 seats in the 227-member civic body, while the Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS alliance is projected to garner 58–68 seats. The Congress is anticipated to secure 12–16 seats. The JVC exit poll forecasts 138 for the Mahayuti, 59 for the Thackeray alliance, and 24 for the Congress. Conversely, the Sakal exit poll predicts a tighter race, granting the Mahayuti 119 seats, the UBT-led alliance 75 seats, and about 20 seats for the Congress.
Approximately 1,700 candidates took part in the BMC elections, which occurred after a four-year delay. Voting was held on Thursday, January 15, from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, with the counting of postal ballots and Electronic Voting Machines set for January 16. These elections marked the first since the Shiv Sena split in 2022, when Eknath Shinde departed with a majority of the party’s MLAs to ally with the BJP. The undivided Shiv Sena had held control of the civic body for 25 years, from 1997 to 2022.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, recognized as India’s wealthiest municipal body, oversees an annual budget exceeding ₹74,400 crore, making leadership of this civic body a valuable political asset. Exit poll findings indicate robust voter backing for the Mahayuti, signaling a potential continuation of governance under the BJP–Shinde alliance.
Voting for 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra wrapped up at 5.30 pm on Thursday. As reported by PTI, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare indicated that the final voter turnout is expected to be in the range of 46–50%, an improvement compared to the 2017 civic elections, and expressed contentment with public engagement.
By 3.30 pm, the voter turnout in the BMC area was around 41%, with the final estimate nearing 50%, according to the State Election Commission.
