Mumbai’s civic battle is really a fight for Maharashtra’s soul

Finally, after four long years, elections to Asia’s richest civic body, the BMC or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation have been announced for January 15, 2026, along with civic polls for 28 other cities in the state of Maharastra. These are not ordinary civic elections. The political fallout, especially in the BMC polls, will have a bearing far beyond Mumbai, India’s financial capital. In the muddle that is Maharashtra politics, it is primarily a battle of alliances but also a test for individual parties in the state.

Shiv Sena UBT and Shinde factions

For decades, the BMC has been dominated by the undivided Shiv Sena under the leadership of the late Balasaheb Thackeray. With the Sena now split between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, the election in Mumbai is largely a direct fight between the two factions and will determine who reigns supreme and who really holds the claim to Bal Thackeray’s legacy. When the Sena was split in 2022, with the very obvious blessings of the BJP, there was a lot of sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.

However, the assembly polls a year ago presented a different picture as the Shinde lead Sena outperformed the UBT faction. Still, Uddhav’s party did win Mumbai’s 3 out of 6 Lok Sabha seats only months before the state polls. Now, the BMC is a prestige battle like no other. For Uddhav, an alliance with his once estranged cousin Raj Thackeray could prove to be crucial for this. The BJP is worried that the cousins coming together on a plank of Marathi pride could resonate strongly with voters. Uddhav Thackeray needs to show that his family name still matters the most in Mumbai.

For Eknath Shinde, these polls will be important to show his faction’s strength in Mumbai and to cement that the real legacy of Balasaheb rests with him, not his son Uddhav. Shinde’s test also comes at a time when he’s been struggling to work under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP. The BMC is one body the BJP is desperately keen to dominate on it’s own. It has come close in the past but this time too it will be hampered by the need to accommodate it’s allies. In recent months, tensions between Chief Minister Fadnavis and deputy Chief Minister Shinde have flared up, while the Shinde Sena was furious about it’s workers being poached by the BJP ahead of the local body polls. Now they have decided to fight these polls together.

Ajit Pawar

But the equations with another member of the ruling alliance further complicate the story. Ajit Pawar broke his uncle, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). His main focus in the urban local body polls will be Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad but he wants to establish a presence in Mumbai too.

However, differences with ally BJP over NCP leader Nawab Malik, who has been named poll-in-charge by Pawar, means that they will contest separately. Clearly the problems in the ruling alliance in Maharashtra don’t get as much media attention as they should.

Congress

Meanwhile, the grand old party is no longer a major player in Maharashtra like it once used to be but the civic polls will give it a chance to try and revive it’s urban base. However, tensions have emerged with ally Uddhav Thackeray’s party over the tie-up with cousin Raj Thackeray. So the Congress has announced it will fight alone.

Maharashtra politics has been marked by shifting alliances, splits and much drama over the last few years. The BMC polls will be a significant marker of the public mood today and the stakes are high for every player.