Maharashtra Elections 2026 Updates: Voting Across 29 Civic Bodies Begins
The spotlight is on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s rich civic body, where 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats.
Maharashtra Civic Body Polls 2026:
Voting across 29 municipal corporations is being conducted across Maharashtra. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates. The spotlight is on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s richest civic body with an annual budget of over Rs 74,400 crore, where 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after a four-year delay.
In Mumbai, it is a battle between the Thackeray brothers, who have reunited in its backdrop after 20 years to reclaim their heritage, versus the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.
The counting of votes will take place on Friday, Jan 16.
Here are the Updates on Maharashtra Civic Body Polls:
Maharashtra Elections 2026 Update: RSS chief casts vote
RSS Chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat shows his finger after casting his vote for Maharashtra civic body elections.
Voting in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday (January 15, 2026) morning with spotlight on Mumbai, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in an intense battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of India’s largest and richest civic body.
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations started amidst tight security at 7.30 a.m. and will conclude at 5.30 p.m. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
Barring Mumbai, the other urban bodies have multi-member wards. Vote counting will take place on January 16.
These are the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena when Eknath Shinde, now Deputy Chief Minister, broke away with a majority of the party’s MLAs and aligned with the BJP to become the Chief Minister.
In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whose annual budget is over ₹74,400 crore, 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after nine years, following a four-year delay. More than 25,000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to oversee elections.
Of the 3.48 crore voters, 1.81 crore are men, 1.66 crore are women, and 4,596 are other votes. Of the 39,092 polling stations, 3,196 have been declared vulnerable. Voting will be conduct on electronic voting machines. Of the 43,958 control units and 87,916 ballot units, 11,349 control units and 22,698 ballot units have been deployed for Mumbai.(Edited)Rest
BJP-Shiv Sena leaders seek the blessings of Lord Ganesh at Siddhivinayak Temple on Thursday (January 15, 2026) morning as voting started for 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra. The coalition will fight against Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray and Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on one hand, and the Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi on the other in the Maharashtra civic elections.
Voting begins for high-stakes elections in Mumbai, 28 other municipal corporations in Maharashtra
Voting in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday (January 15, 2026) morning with spotlight on Mumbai, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in an intense battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of India’s largest and richest civic body.
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations started amidst tight security at 7.30 a.m. and will conclude at 5.30 p.m. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whose yearly budget is over ₹74, 400 crore, 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after nine years, after a four-year delay. More than 25,000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to oversee elections.
They have come together for their survival: BJP’s Poonam Mahajan on Raj and Uddhav Thackeray joining hands
Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BJP) elections, BJP leader Poonam Mahajan took a swipe at the Thackeray cousins, alleging that MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray have come together solely for political survival, rather than the city’s development.
The BJP leader also addressed concerns over an alleged threat to the Marathi identity in the wake of Raj Thackeray’s statement, which made a strong pitch for Marathi unity and warned that the state’s language, land, and identity are under threat.
“It is good if a family comes together, but they have not come together for a wedding. They have come together for their survival. They have not come together over development issues…They raise issues which are beyond understanding…They raise the issue of ‘thi manus’. Who gave it the status of Classical Language? PM Narendra Modi…Where did the ‘Marathi manus’ of Lalbaug and Girgaon go? You removed them…Everyone is doing divide and rule. We don’t want to get into that. We want to do development. Maharashtra will be the most important in India’s stride ahead.
Voting for the high-stakes Maharashtra civic elections is ongoing. Polls are being conducted for 2,869 seats of the state spread across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations, including the BMC.
Key municipal corporations going to polls include Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kolhapur, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nagpur, Solapur, Amravati, Thane, Parbhani, etc.
Voting time and security arrangements
The polling is scheduled to commence at 7:30 am on the morning of January 15 and will conclude by 5:30 pm. To ensure a smooth flow of the elections, more than 25,000 police personnel, including senior officials, will be deployed across Mumbai.
The results of the elections will be announced on January 16.
In a press release on Wednesday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that distribution of EVMs and other election materials was carried out at 23 divisional centers in the city.
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