BJP-Led Alliance Secures Decisive Victory in Maharashtra Civic Elections
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra civic elections for 2026 have delivered a clear verdict. After a delay of nearly four years due to legal challenges and administrator rule, voters across 27 municipal corporations and 2,869 seats have spoken. The elections tested governance credibility and political survival for many parties.
The results show a decisive shift in urban political power. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance emerged as the dominant force throughout urban Maharashtra. Projections indicate the alliance will win more than 1,800 seats statewide.
Historic Change in Mumbai's Political Landscape
In Mumbai, the Mahayuti alliance crossed the majority threshold in the 227-member BMC. The Bharatiya Janata Party alone captured over 90 wards. This victory marks a significant political change.
It ends the Shiv Sena's uninterrupted control of India's richest municipal corporation since 1997. This represents the BJP's first real capture of Mumbai's civic body.
Top Winners of Maharashtra Civic Polls
1. Devendra Fadnavis and BJP's Urban Expansion
Devendra Fadnavis and the Bharatiya Janata Party emerge as the biggest winners. The BJP won over 90 BMC wards independently, compared to 82 in 2017. In key wards like Mulund West, the party defeated the MNS by margins exceeding 12,000 votes.
Statewide results reinforce this dominance. The BJP leads in Pune Municipal Corporation with over 50 of 162 seats. It secured a majority in Navi Mumbai and crossed 80 seats in Nagpur's civic body.
Polling data reveals interesting trends. Axis My India estimated BJP support among first-time voters aged 18-25 at 47 percent. About 44 percent of women voters backed the party, influenced by welfare schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin and promises of tighter civic spending audits.
Control over Mumbai's civic machinery carries significant implications. The BMC's annual budget exceeds Rs 60,000 crore. This control enhances the BJP's institutional leverage ahead of the 2029 assembly elections.
2. Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena gains political validation from these results. Since the 2022 split, the Shinde faction has faced legitimacy challenges. The civic verdict strengthens its claim, particularly in Mumbai and Thane.
The party has won or is leading in 352 wards statewide. It emerges as the second largest party in Maharashtra civic polls. In Mira-Bhayandar and Ulhasnagar, the Shinde faction recorded near-sweeps. Voters showed preference for infrastructure delivery continuity over symbolic politics.
3. Mahayuti Alliance
The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti alliance once again seals victory in Maharashtra. Despite contesting separately in some cities, the alliance demonstrated effective vote transferability in Mumbai, Nashik, and Nagpur.
The alliance won or is leading in over 1,700 wards across Maharashtra. This major victory shows how state-level power converts into grassroots and civic dominance.
4. AIMIM's Strategic Gains
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen made modest but consequential gains. The party registered victory or leads in 94 wards, primarily in Muslim-majority pockets like Bhendi Bazaar and parts of Kurla and Mumbra.
In Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, it crossed 15 seats. While these numbers remain small, AIMIM's presence fragmented the opposition vote, particularly hurting Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT).
5. K Annamalai and the 'Rasmalai' Narrative
One unexpected story emerged during result tallying. Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai became a winner without contesting, through narrative currency.
While campaigning in Mumbai, Annamalai remarked that Mumbai didn't belong to Maharashtra alone as an international city. This triggered sharp exchanges at a joint Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS rally.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray mocked Annamalai as 'rasmalai' and questioned his authority to comment on Mumbai. He raised the slogan "hatao lungi, bajao pungi," a phrase long used derogatorily against South Indians.
After Mahayuti's victory, BJP supporters celebrated on social media by posting photos of rasmalai and mocking Raj Thackeray.
Top Losers of Maharashtra Civic Polls
1. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena
Uddhav Thackeray suffered the biggest electoral setback. From over 130 BMC seats in 2017, Shiv Sena (UBT) fell to just 72 seats. Even traditional strongholds like Gorai and parts of Mahim witnessed defeats.
Losing control of the BMC deals a significant blow. The Shiv Sena has maintained control over the civic body for decades. His anticipated reunion with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray failed to make any electoral impact.
2. Congress Party's Urban Erosion
The Indian National Congress emerges as one of the biggest losers. Results expose its near-total erosion in urban politics. In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Congress reduced to around 21 seats, down from over 30 in 2017.
Across Maharashtra's 27 municipal corporations, the party managed roughly 306 wards out of 2,869. In Pune, once a Congress-influenced city, the party restricted to fewer than five seats out of 162.
The party decided to go solo after the Thackeray cousins joined hands. This strategy failed to make impact in BMC polls where Uddhav's Sena won 72 seats. Lack of city-specific agenda, factional infighting, and minimal national leadership presence compounded the decline.
3. Raj Thackeray and MNS
For Raj Thackeray, civic polls reinforce a long-term downward trajectory. He joined hands with cousin Uddhav to keep BJP at bay, but results show this strategy failed miserably.
During campaigns, he appealed around 'Marathi Manoos' while invoking Balasaheb Thackeray. This politics of sentiment has deep roots in Maharashtra's history. He relied on fiery speeches, symbolic gestures, and cultural flashpoints targeting migrants and linguistic outsiders.
Unlike mass welfare or governance-driven politics, his appeal rooted in 'Marathi asmita' failed to resonate. The MNS secured only 11 of 227 wards in Mumbai and just 18 of 2,869 wards statewide.
4. Sharad Pawar's Diminished Influence
Sharad Pawar emerges as another significant loser. Results expose steady erosion of his once-formidable grip over urban and organizational politics. For decades, Pawar was seen as Maharashtra's master strategist capable of shaping outcomes even when not in direct power.
The civic verdict punctured that perception. The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) failed to make meaningful impact in BMC, getting just one win in Mumbai wards. It remained marginal in Pune, a city long considered central to Pawar's political influence.
His strategy to join hands with nephew Ajit Pawar for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections also failed as BJP secured victory. Statewide, the faction's ward tally reached just 28 of 2,869 wards.
Pawar's traditional role as alliance-builder lost relevance. Fragmentation within opposition and rise of dominant Mahayuti alliance reduced his ability to act as power broker. Though reports suggested he wanted Maha Vikas Aghadi to fight as a unit, he failed to keep parties together.
5. Ajit Pawar's Underperformance
Despite being part of Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar emerges as another loser. During civic poll campaigns, he repeatedly hit out at his own Mahayuti allies Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, exposing visible faultlines.
As election date approached, he united with uncle Sharad Pawar to contest Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad elections as united front. His attacks were unusually sharp for an alliance partner, questioning why local bodies under BJP-Shinde control struggled with water supply, roads, and urban planning.
He projected his faction as corrective force within government rather than stakeholder in its record. Civic results suggest this tactic backfired. Ajit Pawar's faction underperformed in Pune and Nashik, reinforcing perception that public sparring with allies diluted his credibility and bargaining power within Mahayuti.
Ultimately, the Pawars lost their strongholds Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to BJP with huge margins.
