Maharashtra Civic Polls 2026: Vote Counting Starts at 10 AM for 29 Bodies Including BMC and Pune
Vote counting for Maharashtra's 29 civic bodies, including high-stakes BMC and Pune, begins today after exit polls forecast strong BJP-Shiv Sena gains amid the Thackeray reunion and Pawar alliance.
Counting of votes for elections to 29 civic bodies across Maharashtra will take place today, with high-stakes contests in Mumbai and Pune drawing maximum attention. The results are expected to offer crucial political signals ahead of future state and national elections, as major parties test their strength at the grassroots level after years of shifting alliances and internal splits.
The fiercest battle is for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Asia’s richest civic body, with an annual budget exceeding ₹74,400 crore. Polls were held after a nine-year gap, including a four-year delay, for 227 seats that saw nearly 1,700 candidates in the fray. A key political development has been the reunion of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray after more than two decades, as they attempt to reclaim control of the BMC.
Exit polls, however, suggest a strong performance by the alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. An aggregate of multiple surveys predicts the BJP–Sena alliance could secure around 132 seats in Mumbai, while the Shiv Sena (UBT)-led bloc may win about 63 seats, with the Congress expected to get around 20. Pollsters also indicate that young voters and women may tilt towards the BJP, though exit polls have been known to err.
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Pune is another key battleground, where rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party—led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar—have come together for the municipal elections. According to exit polls, the BJP is projected to emerge as the single largest party in the Pune Municipal Corporation, potentially winning around 70 of the 165 seats, followed by Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar’s faction trailing behind.
Overall, polling covered 2,869 seats across 893 wards in 29 municipal corporations, with nearly 3.48 crore eligible voters deciding the fate of over 15,900 candidates. Besides Mumbai and Pune, vote counting will also take place in major cities including Thane, Nagpur, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Kolhapur, making today a decisive moment for Maharashtra’s local political landscape.
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