BMC Results LIVE: BJP+ crosses majority in high-stakes ‘Hindutva vs Marathi Manoos’ battle

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance has taken a comfortable lead in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, crossing the majority mark of 114 seats in India’s richest civic body. The Shiv Sena (UBT) faction led by Uddhav Thackeray has mounted a strong challenge and continues to trail closely behind the BJP as counting remains underway.

The BMC elections were held on Thursday, recording a voter turnout of 52.94 per cent. Results for all 227 wards are being declared by the State Election Commission (SEC). Alongside the BMC, elections were also conducted for 28 other municipal corporations across Maharashtra, with results declared on Friday.

Elections held after four-year delay

The last BMC elections took place in 2017, while the next polls were scheduled for 2022. However, the elections were delayed by nearly four years due to multiple factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, disputes over ward delimitation, and a prolonged legal battle over OBC reservations in local body elections.

After the long gap, over 54 lakh Mumbaikars turned out to vote, with the SEC reporting an overall turnout of 52.90 per cent.

Exit polls favoured Mahayuti

Exit polls ahead of the results had projected a clear edge for the BJP-led Mahayuti. According to JVC exit polls, the alliance was expected to win around 138 seats, while the Shiv Sena (UBT)-led alliance was projected to secure 59 seats.

Similarly, Axis My India predicted the Mahayuti could win 131–151 seats, with the Uddhav Thackeray-led alliance likely to get 58–68 seats.

Counting process and past results

Unlike the 2017 elections—where counting was conducted in a single phase—the current vote counting is being carried out in batches, with two constituencies counted at a time, as per SEC officials.

In the 2017 BMC polls, the undivided Shiv Sena emerged as the largest party with 84 seats, narrowly ahead of the BJP, which won 82 seats. The Congress secured 31 seats, while the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) won seven seats.

Changed political landscape

Since 2017, Maharashtra’s political landscape has seen major shifts. The Shiv Sena split in 2022, leading to factions headed by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde. In 2023, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also split into factions led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar.

Following these developments, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and NCP (Ajit Pawar) joined hands with the BJP to form the Mahayuti alliance, while the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Congress came together under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) banner.