As polling booths open across Maharashtra today, the state is witnessing one of its most pivotal civic elections in recent years. Over 3.48 crore eligible voters are set to cast their ballots in 29 municipal corporations, deciding the fate of 15,931 candidates vying for 2,869 seats. Voting, which commenced at 7:30 am and will continue until 5:30 pm, marks the end of a prolonged delay in local body polls, with results scheduled for counting tomorrow, January 16.

The elections come after a significant hiatus - many civic bodies, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), last went to polls in 2017, with terms expiring in 2022. Legal battles over Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, ward delimitation, and population data issues caused repeated postponements, extending the gap to nearly nine years in some cases. This delay has left urban governance in limbo, with administrators overseeing operations instead of elected representatives.

Spotlight on BMC: India's Richest Civic Body and a Prestige Fight

All eyes are on Mumbai, where the BMC - boasting an annual budget exceeding Rs 74,400 crore - represents not just administrative control but immense political symbolism. As India's wealthiest municipal corporation, the BMC oversees critical infrastructure, from water supply and roads to healthcare and education in the financial capital. Around 1,700 candidates are contesting 227 single-member wards here, making it a multi-cornered contest that could reshape Maharashtra's political landscape.

The undivided Shiv Sena dominated the BMC for 25 years until 2022, but this is the first election since the party's dramatic split in June 2022, when Eknath Shinde led a rebellion, toppling Uddhav Thackeray's government and claiming the party's name and symbol. For Uddhav Thackeray, former chief minister and leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), the polls are a litmus test for political survival. He has forged a surprising alliance with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), reuniting after two decades to rally Marathi voters and reclaim the Sena's legacy as heirs to Bal Thackeray. Their manifesto emphasises free power, women's welfare, and sustainable development, positioning the duo against what they call the Mahayuti's "anti-Marathi" policies.

On the other side, the ruling Mahayuti alliance - comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - aims to consolidate its grip. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, leading the charge, has predicted a resounding victory, dismissing the Thackeray reunion as a desperate move that could spell doom for Raj Thackeray's relevance. For Shinde, a win would affirm his status as the "true" Sena inheritor, especially after his faction's strong showing in the 2024 assembly elections. The BJP, contesting alongside Shinde's Sena, has fielded candidates aggressively, with Fadnavis campaigning statewide to underscore development promises like improved infrastructure and housing.

The Congress, meanwhile, is largely going solo in Mumbai, allying sporadically with smaller outfits like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), adding another layer to the fragmented opposition. Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad faces pressure to deliver, amid a broader narrative of reclaiming urban strongholds.

Beyond Mumbai: Key Contests in Pune and Other Cities

The polls extend to other major urban centres, each with its own dynamics. In Pune, with 165 seats up for grabs, the NCP factions - led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar—have dramatically reunited after their 2023 split, presenting a joint manifesto focused on local issues like environmental protection and housing. This alliance challenges the BJP, which has dominated the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in recent terms. However, tensions within Mahayuti are evident: Shinde's Shiv Sena is contesting independently here after failed seat-sharing talks with the BJP, potentially splitting votes. Sena leader Neelam Gorhe has signalled openness to post-poll alliances on shared agendas like sustainable development.

Similar fissures appear in Thane, Shinde's home turf, where the Thackeray-MNS combine is directly confronting the Mahayuti in key wards. Nagpur, a BJP stronghold, and Nashik also feature intense battles, with the opposition leveraging local grievances over infrastructure and jobs. Other corporations like Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kolhapur, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ulhasnagar, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Mira-Bhayandar, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Latur, Malegaon, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Dhule, Jalna, and Ichalkaranji round out the list, collectively testing urban governance models.

Shadow of 2024 'Vote Chori' Allegations Looms

This is Maharashtra's first major election since the contentious 2024 assembly polls, where the Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory. The opposition, led by Congress and Rahul Gandhi, alleged widespread "vote chori" (vote theft), claiming electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering and voter list manipulations favoured the BJP. Gandhi cited discrepancies like surges in voter turnout and duplicate entries, accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of collusion. Similar concerns have resurfaced ahead of these civic polls, with opposition parties flagging over 10 lakh unmarked duplicate voter entries statewide. In Pune alone, nearly 2.5 lakh such cases remain unresolved, raising fears of bogus voting.

The State Election Commission (SEC) has faced criticism for introducing printing auxiliary display units (PADUs) for counting in case of EVM glitches, with Uddhav and Raj Thackeray accusing it of bias toward the ruling alliance. Despite these controversies, over 25,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth polling.

Alliance Tensions

Even within the Mahayuti, strains are visible. Seat-sharing disputes led to Shinde's Sena contesting solo in Pune and clashing with BJP in pockets like Thane. Fadnavis has downplayed these as local adjustments, but analysts see them as signs of underlying rivalries, especially as Shinde seeks to assert independence post his 2022 coup. In another striking political development the rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - one led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and the other by veteran leader Sharad Pawar - have set aside their differences to contest together in Pune civic body polls. This comes nearly three years after the dramatic split in July 2023, when Ajit Pawar broke away to join the ruling Mahayuti alliance, leading to prolonged family and legal tensions over party control and symbols. The two sides released a joint manifesto on January 10, 2026, with Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule (working president of NCP-SP) sharing the stage in a rare show of unity, focusing on key local issues like traffic decongestion, improved water supply, healthcare, affordable public transport, and eco-friendly initiatives. Ajit Pawar explained that the alliance stemmed from party workers' insistence that contesting separately would split votes and hurt their chances, describing it as a pragmatic "vote arithmetic”, while insisting that there are no permanent enemies in politics. For the parties, the outcomes could redefine alliances ahead of future state battles. A Thackeray resurgence might bolster the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), while a Mahayuti sweep would cement Fadnavis and Shinde's dominance. Amid acrimonious campaigns, themes of Marathi pride, development, and anti-corruption dominate, with leaders like Fadnavis warning of "vote jihad" narratives.