- Mumbai: The ruling Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena took an early lead in the high-profile Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, according to trends emerging from vote counting on Friday. Leads were reported in 210 of the 227 wards, indicating a clear advantage for the alliance in India’s richest civic body.
Though the State Election Commission is yet to issue an official update, television reports showed the BJP leading in around 92 wards in Mumbai, while the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was ahead in 26 wards. Based on these trends, the Mahayuti alliance appeared set to cross the halfway mark of 114 seats required to form the civic body.
The opposition alliance led by the Thackeray cousins lagged behind the ruling combine. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) was reportedly leading in 60 wards, while the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), headed by Raj Thackeray, was ahead in nine seats. The cousins had reunited last month after nearly two decades in a bid to counter the ruling alliance.
Outside Mumbai, mixed results were reported across Maharashtra. In Latur Municipal Corporation, the Congress, along with its ally Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, was reported to have secured control. In Thane, considered a stronghold of Eknath Shinde, his Shiv Sena faction was leading in 18 wards, ahead of its ally BJP, which was leading in 10.
In Pune, the BJP emerged as the frontrunner, leading in 43 seats, leaving its rivals far behind. The Congress was ahead in seven seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in five, and the NCP (SP) in three. In neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad, the BJP was leading in 70 seats, while the Ajit Pawar-led NCP was ahead in 40. Both parties contested these elections independently.
Exit polls had earlier projected a strong performance for the Mahayuti alliance in the elections to 29 municipal corporations held on Thursday. Officials said voter turnout in Mumbai stood at 52.94 per cent, lower than the 55.53 per cent recorded in the 2017 civic polls.
The BMC elections were held after a delay of nearly four years, with the civic body’s annual budget exceeding ₹74,400 crore. Polling for all 29 municipal corporations across the state took place on January 15, following the expiry of terms between 2020 and 2023, including nine corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the country’s most urbanised belt.
