Maharashtra civic polls LIVE: BMC turnout at 6.98%, BJP candidate hurt in Nagpur clash

Voting is underway across Maharashtra on Thursday for civic polls in 29 municipal corporations, including the high-profile Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a contest seen as a crucial political test following the ruling Mahayuti alliance’s sweeping victory in last year’s assembly elections.

Polling began at 7:30 am and will continue until 5:30 pm, with counting scheduled for January 16.

In Mumbai, voting is taking place across 227 wards, where around 1,700 candidates are in the fray. A total of 1,03,44,315 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the BMC elections, including 55,16,707 male voters, 48,26,509 female voters and 1,099 voters in the “other” category.

The elections carry high stakes for the Thackeray brothers — Uddhav and Raj — as well as for the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance. The undivided Shiv Sena once dominated the BMC, winning 84 seats in alliance with the BJP, which secured 82 seats. The political landscape has since shifted following the Shiv Sena’s split in 2022.

For the Thackerays, the civic polls are seen as a battle to reclaim lost ground and prestige, and a test of whether the family name still commands influence in Mumbai and across Maharashtra.

The BMC elections are being held after a delay of nearly three years.

Election schedule and key dates

The State Election Commission (SEC) issued the election notification in December 2025. On December 15, it announced that elections for all 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the BMC, would be held in a single phase on January 15, 2026.

Key dates in the election process included:

• Nomination filing: December 23 to December 30, 2025

• Last date for withdrawal of nominations: January 2, 2026

• Publication of final list of candidates: January 3, 2026

• Polling date: January 15, 2026

• Counting of votes: January 16, 2026

The outcome of the BMC polls is expected to offer important clues about shifting political equations in Maharashtra’s urban centres.