High-Stakes Civic Showdown in Maharashtra: Mumbai, Pune Take Center Stage as Voters Head to Polls
Maharashtra holds key civic polls today, spotlight on Mumbai's fierce Thackeray family showdown.
Maharashtra is witnessing a major democratic exercise as voting is underway for 29 municipal corporations across the state, covering 2,869 seats in 893 wards. Polling began at 7:30 am and will continue until 5:30 pm, marking the first civic elections in several years after the expiry of terms between 2020 and 2023. The results are expected to reshape local governance and political equations ahead of future state and national contests.
The spotlight is firmly on Mumbai, where elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s richest civic body, are being held. Unlike other corporations, the BMC follows a single-member ward system, meaning each voter casts just one vote. Control of the BMC has long been synonymous with political dominance in Mumbai.
The contest has assumed added significance with the reunion of the Thackeray brothers—Uddhav and Raj—after nearly two decades. The election is widely seen as their attempt to reclaim the political and cultural legacy of Bal Thackeray and revive the influence of the undivided Shiv Sena, which ruled Mumbai’s civic body for decades. The polls are also being viewed as a referendum on the idea of the “Marathi Manoos,” a cornerstone of regional identity politics.
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For Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena in 2022, the civic elections represent a crucial test of his claim as Bal Thackeray’s political heir. His alliance with the BJP faces stiff competition, even as the BJP seeks to expand its footprint. The party is contesting 137 of the 227 BMC seats, while Shinde’s faction is contesting the remaining 90.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party has opted to contest independently, particularly eyeing gains in Pune, where the party once enjoyed prolonged civic dominance. With voting concluding this evening and counting scheduled for January 16, the results are expected to offer key insights into shifting voter loyalties and the future direction of Maharashtra’s politics.
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