Maharashtra municipal elections 2026: From Thackeray brothers’ reunion to BJP’s CM – What has changed in Mumbai’s 1st BMC election since 2017?
Maharashtra Municipal Elections 2026: Voting for the 2,869 seats across 893 wards in these municipal corporations started today at around 7.30 am. The polling will conclude at around 5.30 pm. As many as 3.48 crore voters will decide the fate of 15,931 candidates. These are the first BMC elections since 2022.
Maharashtra Municipal Elections 2026: Voting for the 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra has started on Thursday, January 15, with Mumbai in focus. In the Maximum City, the main focus is on the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which has locked horns with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of the country’s richest civic body. The BMC polls are the first elections since the major separation of the Shiv Sena in 2022, when Eknath Shinde broke away with the party’s MLAs and joined hands with the saffron party to become the chief minister of the state. What has changed in Mumbai’s first BMC election since 2017?
#WATCH | Mumbai | Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and leader Aaditya Thackeray show their inked fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in Mumbai for the BMC elections. pic.twitter.com/qe9UQ0e2Rp
— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2026
Maharashtra Municipal Elections 2026: What Has Changed In Mumbai
The ongoing BMC polls are the first since 2022, when the major split took place in Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde had separated from the party’s MLAs and joined hands with the BJP. This alliance made his Chief Minister. Shinde is currently serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
In a major political turn that had rolled the eyeballs in the political lane, estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray joined hands last month for the BMC polls. The reunion was held two decades ago in their bid to consolidate Marathi votes.
In a major political turn that had rolled the eyeballs in the political lane, estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray joined hands last month for the BMC polls. The reunion was held two decades ago in their bid to consolidate Marathi votes.
The Congress, which once dominated Maharashtra politics, has separated from Maha Vikas Aghadi allies – Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). It has joined hands with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh.
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