Maharashtra Civic Polls: High Voter Turnout and Controversy as Exit Polls Predict Mahayuti Sweep

Mumbai: Polling for 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), concluded on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

The elections are crucial for major urban centres including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nashik and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

In the capital city, Mumbai, voting took place in 227 wards, with approximately 1,700 candidates in the fray. A total of 1,03,44,315 citizens were eligible to vote in the BMC polls.

Counting is set to begin tomorrow (Friday, January 16), with final results expected by the end of the day.

The counting of votes will begin at 10.00 am across 23 designated counting centres in Mumbai, Municipal Commissioner and District Election Officer Bhushan Gagrani said on Thursday.

The Counting Process

The counting process will be conducted in strict compliance with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India and the Model Code of Conduct, with elaborate arrangements in place to ensure security, traffic management and maintenance of law and order. The detailed plan for vote counting has been approved by the Municipal Commissioner, the BMC said in a statement.

According to the BMC, a total of 23 Returning Officers have been appointed for the 227 election wards within the municipal limits. Strong rooms and counting venues under the jurisdiction of each Returning Officer have been designated for the process and have received the necessary approvals from the Public Works Department and the Police Department.

For the counting exercise, 2,299 officers and staff have been deployed, including 759 supervisors, 770 assistants and 770 Class IV employees. Officials said all counting personnel have been given prior training, the statement said.

Traffic control measures, parking arrangements and separate enclosures for media personnel have been made near counting centres. A computerised system will be used for tabulation and declaration of results to ensure accuracy and transparency.

Only authorised candidates, their representatives and media personnel with valid identity cards issued by the Election Department will be permitted entry into the counting premises. Officials have urged all stakeholders to adhere strictly to the instructions issued by the Maharashtra State Election Commission.

The Political Contest

The undivided Shiv Sena was a strong force in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It won 84 seats in the last polls held in 2007 and the BJP won 82 seats.

This is the first BMC election following the split in Shiv Sena in 2022.

For the Thackeray brothers, Raj and Uddhav, these local body polls were a fight for regaining lost prestige. The results will determine if the Thackeray surname still carries as much weight as it once did in the city and the state. The coming together of the two cousins was seen as the final throw of the dice of the Thackeray legacy.

The Thackeray scions had pitched this battle as one of the 'Marathi Manus' against the alleged corporate nexus of the BJP-Sena combine.

The Bharatiya Janata Party contested the BMC elections in alliance with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. With a coordinated campaign and the BJP's mammoth election backroom machinery behind the Mahayuti the election was also being perceived as a vote for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' mega development pitch.

Voter Turnout

Voting in Maharashtra's municipal corporation elections recorded a moderate turnout of 41.08 per cent across all 29 municipal corporations till 3:30 pm, according to reports from Maharashtra State Election Commission.

Polling began at 7:30 am on Thursday and will continue until 5:30 pm, with vote counting scheduled for Friday, January 16. Early trends indicated a sluggish voter response, with only 7.12 per cent of voters casting ballots in Mumbai by 9:30 am.

By 11:30 am, the overall voter turnout across the state reached 17.41 per cent. By 1:30 pm, the voter turnout was 29.22%. Among Mumbai's wards, Ward 18 recorded the highest turnout at 11.57 per cent, while Ward 162 registered the lowest at 1.68 per cent.

Controversies & Clarifications

A row over indelible ink used in the Maharashtra civic polls erupted ahead of the counting day.

Maharashtra State Election Commissioner D T Waghmare on Thursday firmly rejected allegations of irregularities related to the indelible ink being used in the elections, asserting that there was no wrongdoing in the polling process.

Responding to concerns raised by opposition leaders over the ink used allegedly being erasable, Waghmare said there was deliberate creation of confusion.

"This has come to our notice that there is some confusion being created about the ink which is being put on the voters' fingers. I want to say that the ink being used to mark the fingers of voters is indelible ink, and it is the same ink which is used by the Election Commission of India in various elections," the State Election Commissioner said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also issued a clarification on Thursday, confirming that postal ballot boxes will remain in the strong room until the official counting day, January 16, 2026.

The controversy stemmed from a clerical error involving a letter sent to candidates on January 8.

A letter from the Election Decision Officer-21 (covering Wards 200 to 206) suggested that ballots would be moved earlier than scheduled.

The BMC’s Public Relations Department confirmed that this letter was "inadvertently circulated," promptly withdrawn, and replaced with a revised version.

The clarification addresses concerns voiced by Uddhav Thackeray, who earlier questioned the transparency of the process, alleging that moving ballot boxes before the scheduled counting day could lead to tampering.

The BMC has dismissed these claims, reiterating that the schedule remains strictly aligned with state commission orders. Meanwhile, polling is currently active across 29 civic bodies in Maharashtra. As of 1:30 pm on Thursday, the State Election Commission reported a voter turnout of 29.22%.

Exit polls predict BJP-led Mahayuti victory

The exit polls released after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls on Thursday predicted a victory for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, with the Thackeray brothers finishing second and Congress and its allies not putting up a strong show.

According to Axis My India's predictions, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is poised to win 131-151 seats; the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance 58-68 seats; the Congress-VBA-RSP alliance 12-16 seats; and others 6-12 seats.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls were held for 227 seats, and a party or alliance needs 114 seats for simple majority.

The Axis My India also made vote-share predictions, projecting a 42% vote share for the Mahayuti allies (BJP 28%, Shiv Sena 14%). It predicted Shiv Sena (UBT) getting 24 per cent votes, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) 7 per cent and NCP (SP) one per cent.    The three parties fought the polls as allies.  

The Congress has tied up with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh (RSP) for the civic polls.

According to DV Research, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is poised to win 107-122 seats; the Thackeray brothers' alliance 68-83 seats; the Congress-led alliance 18-25 seats; and others 8-15 seats.

According to the Janmat exit poll, the BJP and Shiv Sena are poised to win 138 seats; the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance 62 seats; the Congress-led alliance 20 seats; and others 7 seats. The poll has predicted a margin of error of plus or minus five seats.

The Saam TV exit poll predicted 84 seats for the BJP, 35 for its ally Shiv Sena, 65 for Shiv Sena (UBT), two for NCP (SP), ten for MNS. It said the Congress-led alliance would get 23 seats, the NCP three seats and others five seats.  

(With inputs from agencies)

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