High Stakes, No Refresh: BMC Website Crashes as Mumbai Braces for Results

New Delhi: Maharashtra hit a digital dead-end today. Just as the first official numbers from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election counting began to trickle in, the civic body’s most-watched website went dark. Instead of ward-by-ward updates, voters, candidates, and journalists were met with a blunt error message: Portal Runtime Error: Exception ID 11:27_16/01/26.

The Server Says No

The crash came at the worst possible moment. By mid-morning, thousands of Mumbaikars were refreshing the portal in anticipation of early trends. The surge proved too much for the servers, triggering a system overload. The error code pointed to a classic case of too many visitors, too much data, and not enough bandwidth to handle the frenzy for control of India’s wealthiest civic body.

Early Trends: A Neck-and-Neck Thriller

Despite the blackout online, counting centers across Mumbai continued to release updates. Early figures showed the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance taking a narrow lead, with around 62 seats in its column. Close behind was the reunited “Thackeray Front” -  the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS alliance - which held firm in several wards. In the Marathi heartland of Dadar and Parel, the contest was razor-thin, with margins reportedly down to just a few hundred votes. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), meanwhile, was trailing, struggling to close the gap as more rounds of counting unfolded.

Numbers from Across Maharashtra

Beyond Mumbai, the civic polls painted a wider picture of the state’s political pulse. In Navi Mumbai, out of 47 wards counted so far, Shiv Sena secured 25 seats, while the BJP managed 22. Congress and UBT failed to open their accounts. In the second round of BMC counting, BJP surged ahead with 50 seats, the Thackeray alliance held 25, Congress managed 5, and independents or smaller parties took 7.

Elsewhere, in Nashik, BJP led with 8 seats, followed by Shinde’s Shiv Sena with 5 and Thackeray’s faction with 3. The NCP picked up 2 seats, while Congress drew a blank. In Bhiwandi, BJP claimed 9 seats, Shiv Sena 6, and others 4. Dhule saw a near sweep for BJP, which won 12 of the 13 wards counted, leaving just one for Shiv Sena.

The Shinde faction also registered its first victory in Mumbai, with Varsha Tembhulkar winning Ward 51. Shiv Sena’s Rekha Ram secured Ward No. 1, marking another early win for the party.

Counting Continues Amid Digital Silence

With a massive Rs 74,400 crore budget at stake, the atmosphere at Mumbai’s 23 counting centers was tense. The website crash slowed official updates, but party workers and citizens turned to television tickers, WhatsApp forwards, and word of mouth to keep track of the unfolding drama.

For now, Mumbai waits in suspense. The servers may be down, but the city’s political heartbeat is alive and racing - every ward, every seat shaping the future of India’s financial capital for the next five years.

Read More: Maharashtra Civic Body Poll Results Live Updates: BJP Clean Sweeps Jalgaon, Ajit Pawar Leading In Only 5 Seats