Exit polls predict BJP-led Mahayuti victory in BMC polls

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 15 (ANI):  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.  

Maharashtra went to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, including the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with stakes high for the Thackeray brothers as also BJP-Shiv Sena after the ruling Mahayuti alliance's stupendous victory in the assembly polls last year.

The votes will be counted on Friday.

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. 

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. (ANI)