Campaigning for Maharashtra’s civic body elections concluded on Tuesday, ahead of polling on January 15, marking a tense showdown across 29 municipal corporations. The main spotlight is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s richest civic body, where the BJP-led Mahayuti is aiming to wrest control from the Shiv Sena factions. For the first time in two decades, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray have allied to consolidate the Marathi vote bank against the ruling coalition.

The elections are massive in scale, with 3.48 crore voters set to choose among nearly 16,000 candidates across 893 wards. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis actively campaigned for the Mahayuti alliance, while NCP leader Ajit Pawar tactically limited the party’s visibility in certain areas to appeal to non-Hindu voters, reflecting the complex political maneuvering ahead of the polls.

For the Congress, the elections present new dynamics. In Mumbai, it has allied with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, while in Nagpur it is contesting solo. The elections are also historic for the Shiv Sena, as this is the first BMC poll since the 2022 split, which allowed Eknath Shinde to retain the original party name and symbol. The battle has largely become a contest over party identity and leadership legacy.

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Campaigns have been marked by populist promises. The Mahayuti alliance has proposed a 50% discount on BEST bus fares for women, while the Thackeray-MNS alliance has promised ₹1,500 monthly allowances for domestic workers and property tax relief for small households. The BJP has emphasized a “Hindu and Marathi” mayoral candidate, countering claims that Uddhav Thackeray’s faction might back a Muslim mayor.

These elections are long overdue, with most municipal corporations running without elected representatives for over six years. Results, scheduled for January 16, are expected to end the administrative vacuum in major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and Thane, while reshaping Maharashtra’s urban political landscape for the coming term.

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