After 8 years, BMC Polls to be held between 12-18 January, 2026: Shiv Sena

New Delhi [India], December 3 (ANI): The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections are likely to be held between 12 - 18 January, 2026, after 8 long years, says Shiv Sena. The Supreme Court of India has directed the State Election Commission to complete all local body elections by 31 January 2026, as the elections have been due since 2022.
The estimated budget of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for the year 2025-26 is Rs. 74,427 crore, and the expenditure stands at Rs. 43,162 crore, representing 58% of the total budget allocated to development projects. This gigantic budget is unmatched by any other state or municipal corporation in the country, cementing the BMC's status as Asia's wealthiest civic body.
Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, and as its key governing body, the BMC manages to oversee Infrastructure to health, roads to water supply, transport to power supply, education to sanitation.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena UBT MLA Additya Thackeray, demanded that the Election commission extend days for raising objections to the draft rolls of the BMC elections.
"The Election Commission must extend the days of suggestion/ objections for the draft roll of the municipal corporations in Maharashtra. Today we exposed the following: 1) The EC claims there are 11 lakh voters with repeated names. A count of their own marked repeated names is around 14 lakh. BUT In many cases, the names marked by EC as repeated, aren't repeated and in fact are common Marathi names, with real different people... Whereas, there are approximately 50,000 names are repeated, but NOT marked by the EC as repeated. 2) Dead Voters: voters that have been long dead, have been present through voter lists in Vidhan Sabha polls and some have even voted! In every ward, for every booth, we have made a list of such voters, with proofs. What will the EC do with this entire list? Will they allow proxy voting?" Thackeray posted on X.
Most Shocking 1) The EC had said that the master list for Municipal Corporation is ONLY upto 1st July 2025. We have found more than 30,000 names that have been inserted after 1st July 2025. How did they come in? Is this not a crime? The absolute inadequate numbers of BLOs in Mumbai to verify this has led to the BMC sending people who can't read or write, especially can't read the voter lists properly, as BLOs. While it isn't a crime to not be able to read or write, forcing them to do such technical work is a crime. What is the response of the election commission," he added.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Polls are expected to see a direct contest between two major alliances - the ruling Mayayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Mahayuti which governs the state comprises the Bhartiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The main opposition alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, includes the Indian National Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) and the Shard Pawar-led faction of NCP-SP.
As the speculation is over and the Thackeray brothers (Uddhav Thackeray & Raj Thackeray) have come together after 20 years and vowed to contest the BMC together the election is gonna be a touch fight. (ANI)