The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance is likely to sweep the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, with at least four exit polls predicting a clear majority.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls were held on Thursday along with 28 other corporations. There are 227 seats in BMC, and a party or alliance needs 114 seats for a simple majority.
According to Axis My India’s predictions, the BJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) alliance is likely to win 131-151 seats, the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance 58-68 seats, and the Congress-VBA-RSP alliance 12-16 seats. Others, including independents, may win 6-12 seats.
In terms of vote share, the Mahayuti allies are likely to secure 42 per cent of the votes (BJP 28 per cent and Shinde Sena 14 per cent). Shiv Sena (UBT) is projected to be the second largest party with a 24 per cent vote share, while its allies MNS and NCP (SP) are likely to secure seven per cent and one per cent votes, respectively.
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, MNS 7 per cent and NCP (SP) one per cent. The three parties fought the polls as allies.
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Exit poll by DV Research gave the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance 107-122 seats and predicted 68-83 seats for the Thackeray brothers’ alliance. The Congress-led alliance is projected to win 18-35 seats and others 8-15 seats, as per the DV Research survey.
Another exit poll conducted by Janmat predicted 138 seats for the BJP and Shinde Sena. The survey gave 62 seats to the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS-NCP (SP) alliance and 20 to the Congress-led coalition with a margin of error of five seats.
The Saam TV exit poll predicted 84 seats for the BJP, 35 for its ally Shiv Sena, 65 for Shiv Sena (UBT), three for NCP (SP), ten for MNS and 23 for the Congress led alliance. As per the survey, the NCP (Ajit Pawar) may get 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.
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 exit polls have a history of predicting incorrect outcome and the final results will be declared by the Election Commission after vote counting on Friday, January 16.
Voting for 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) concluded at 5:30 pm on Thursday. The final results of the polls will be declared by the Election Commission after vote counting on Friday, January 16.