The high-voltage battle for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is scheduled to be held on 15 January 2026 in a single phase, while the results will be declared on 16 January.
The State Election Commission (SEC) had announced on 15 December 2025, the polling dates for municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The nomination process began on 23 December, and candidates were allowed to make their submissions until 30 December. The last date of withdrawal of nominations was on 02 January. The final list of candidates was published on 03 January.
While the civic body elections are scheduled to be held for 29 municipal corporations across the state, the focus remains firmly on the BMC, which is the biggest civic body in the state with 227 seats.
Voting timings & electoral count
Voting will take place between 7.30 AM and 5.30 PM. Voters have been advised to visit their designated polling centres during the specified hours.
According to an official statement, more than one crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the BMC elections across all 227 wards.
To encourage voter participation, January 15 has been declared a public holiday by the Maharashtra SEC in municipal corporation areas. Posters have been put up by EC urging voters to come out in large numbers to cast their vote during the BMC elections.
Preps for 2026 civic body polls
For the smooth conduct of the polls, nearly 13,000 presiding and polling officers have been deployed across polling stations, along with an equal number of assistant officers.
In addition, about 13,000 security personnel, including support staff, have been engaged for polling and the counting day.
Direct face-off among major political parties
The BMC elections are set to be a fiercely competitive affair as it will see multiple direct contests. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has announced that 1,700 candidates are contesting the elections for the BMC wards.
For the 227-member BMC, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 163 seats, the BJP 137 seats, the Shinde faction 90 seats, the MNS 53 seats, the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) 11 seats, while the Congress is contesting between 143 and 150 seats. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is contesting 46 seats.
According to State Election Commission data, on 69 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will be locked in a straight fight. The BJP and the Thackeray faction will face each other on 97 seats. The Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shinde faction will be engaged in a direct contest on 18 seats.
The high-decibel election campaign
The election campaigning activities concluded on 13 January as poll campaigns end 48 hours before any elections as per the ECI norms.
In the 48 hours before polling, the official election silence period remains in effect with no campaign activities, such as posters, rallies, ads, or social media campaigning.
After the dynamic election campaign, high-stakes BMC elections are being seen as a decisive battle for Mumbai.
The political landscape will see a major overhaul on 16 January, when the election results will be announced.