As the countdown to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls begins, the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have taken an early lead by sorting out most of their seat-sharing arrangements. On the other hand, the Opposition camp, led by the Thackeray cousins, is yet to officially announce an alliance or finalise plans.
According to the BJP leadership, nearly 66 per cent of seat-sharing talks have been finalised between the two allies for the 227 wards of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). “We have almost settled on around 150 seats. The remaining, too, will be sorted soon,” Ameet Satam, BJP Mumbai unit
president, said.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Ameet Satam, BJP Mumbai unit president
In contrast, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS are yet to officially announce their alliance or finalise a seat-sharing formula. With just 28 days left for polling and December 31 as the last date for filing nominations, candidates will have barely 13 days for active campaigning.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut has earlier claimed that they were sorting the seat-sharing issue and would soon make the formal announcement of an alliance. “Sena (UBT) and MNS alliance announcements can be expected in two days. We are confident of winning the polls and installing our mayor in the BMC,” Raut said.
On Thursday, Raut met NCP chief Sharad Pawar to discuss seat-sharing and other political issues. The Congress has made it clear that it would not ally with Thackeray for local polls, and the NCP-SP is yet to make its stand clear on whether it would be part of the Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance or has some other plans.
With Congress going solo, it will not only be the beginning of cracks forming in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP-SP, but even division of votes, which might help the BJP and its allies. After a delay of nearly three years, elections to the BMC will finally be held on January 15, 2026, with vote counting scheduled for January 16. The previous five-year term of the BMC corporators ended in February 2022.
For nearly 25 years, the Shiv Sena (undivided) and the BJP ruled the BMC together, but their alliance ended in 2017. In that election, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, BJP 82, MNS seven (six later joined Uddhav Thackeray’s party), Congress 29, NCP 9, and others 15.
Since the 2022 split engineered by Shinde, nearly 50 of the 84 corporators from the UBT camp have joined his faction. The upcoming BMC election is seen as a do-or-die battle for Uddhav, and equally for Raj Thackeray’s MNS, which has been losing political relevance.
In 2005, citing differences with Uddhav, Raj quit Shiv Sena and later floated his own party — MNS. However, burying twenty years of differences, the Thackeray cousins came together for the “cause and pride of Maharashtra and Marathi”.
With the Thackeray cousins likely to team up, the contest for control of Mumbai’s high-stakes civic battle will intensify, with Uddhav aiming to retain it, and the BJP and its allies determined to snatch it away.
227
No. of electoral wards
