Early trends showed the Mahayuti ahead in more than 50 BMC wards, with the BJP emerging as the principal force, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS lagged behind in Mumbai.
BY PC Bureau
January 16, 2026: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance continued to hold a strong position as vote counting progressed for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other municipal corporations across Maharashtra on Friday, January 16, 2026. The high-stakes civic elections were held on Thursday, January 15, following a prolonged delay of nearly nine years in the case of the BMC, whose last polls were conducted in 2017.
The elections covered 29 municipal corporations, involving 2,869 seats across 893 wards, with 15,931 candidates in the fray statewide, including around 1,700 in Mumbai alone. Voter turnout in Mumbai stood at approximately 52.94 per cent, marginally lower than the 55.53 per cent recorded in the 2017 civic polls.
BMC election 2026
Update- Close Contest
Mahayuti BJP 51 SS 26
UBT leading on 45
NCP on 3
NCP SP 12
INC 12
VBA 00
MNS 00 pic.twitter.com/kUxO5UYavj— Election Tracker (@ElectionTracke7) January 16, 2026
BMC Trends
Early and evolving trends pointed to a closely fought contest in the 227-member BMC, India’s richest civic body with an annual budget exceeding ₹74,400 crore. The BJP-led Mahayuti — comprising the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — maintained a consistent edge over the opposition alliance, which includes the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray, and other parties.
Initial postal ballot counts and early rounds of counting showed the Mahayuti leading in around 77 wards. Within this, the BJP was ahead in 55 wards, ranging from the low 30s to over 40 in different snapshots, while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena was leading in roughly 22 wards. The Shiv Sena (UBT) was ahead in about 58 wards, with the MNS leading in two to eight wards.
While some trends suggested a tight contest between the BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) for the position of single-largest party, the combined strength of the Mahayuti alliance continued to give it an overall advantage. Counting is being conducted in phases across 23 centres, beginning at 10 am, unlike the simultaneous counting seen in 2017, a factor that could delay the final picture.
Exit polls released ahead of counting had strongly favoured the Mahayuti, projecting a tally of 131–151 seats in the BMC, comfortably above the majority mark of 114. Several surveys also predicted the BJP to emerge as the single-largest party.
If the early trends hold, the outcome would mark a significant shift from the 2017 elections, when the undivided Shiv Sena won 84 seats and the BJP secured 82, allowing the Sena to retain control of the BMC.
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Statewide Trends
Across Maharashtra, early trends from the 29 municipal corporations indicated a dominant performance by the Mahayuti alliance. The BJP-led bloc was reported to be ahead in more than 250 seats in early counts, with the BJP showing strength in multiple urban centres and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena adding to the alliance’s tally. Opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), were trailing in most corporations.
In Pune, a key battleground, the BJP was leading comfortably with around 39 seats, while the combined NCP factions were trailing with about 16 seats — 14 for the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and two for the Sharad Pawar faction. Other major municipal corporations where counting is underway include Navi Mumbai, Thane — considered a Shinde stronghold — Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Kalyan-Dombivli and Vasai-Virar.
The civic polls come on the back of the Mahayuti’s sweeping performance in the late-2025 local body elections for municipal councils and nagar panchayats, where the alliance won 207 of 288 president posts. Leaders such as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had described those results as a “trailer” ahead of the corporation elections.
With counting still underway, the final results will determine control of key urban local bodies, shaping governance, infrastructure priorities and political momentum in Maharashtra. More definitive ward-wise and final tallies are expected as the day progresses, with official updates available on the Maharashtra State Election Commission website.
