BJP storms Mumbai civic citadel, seals grip over Maharashtra’s urban map

Pulling off a landmark political coup, the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on January 16 captured the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), wresting control of India’s wealthiest civic body and decisively redrawing Maharashtra’s urban political landscape.

The Mahayuti alliance also emerged dominant across the state, securing majorities in 23 of the 29 municipal corporations that went to polls. The BJP alone finished as the single-largest party in 20 civic bodies, including Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, where it outpaced a divided Nationalist Congress Party despite its rival factions entering into tactical arrangements.

In Mumbai, the BJP improved its tally to 89 of the 227 seats, up from 82 in 2017, while the Shinde Sena added 29 seats—comfortably pushing the alliance past the halfway mark of 114. The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, retained a foothold in its traditional bastion but slipped to 65 seats, sharply down from the 84 won by the undivided Sena before the 2022 split. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS won six seats, Congress secured 24, and the NCP just three. AIMIM made its presence felt with eight seats in the BMC and 95 across the state.

Thanking voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Mumbai as “the city of aspiration” and said the verdict reaffirmed public faith in the NDA’s promise of good governance and improved ease of living. In a separate message, he described the municipal results as evidence of a deepening bond between the NDA and the people of Maharashtra.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the outcome a mandate for development. Addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters in Nariman Point—where posters celebrating “Dhurandhar Fadnavis” appeared—he said voters had endorsed “honest pursuit of development” and a vision to transform Mumbai. Fadnavis confirmed that the next Mumbai mayor would be from the ruling alliance, stopping short of naming whether the BJP would claim the post.

The results mark a clear setback for the Thackeray cousins, who had sought to revive their fortunes by foregrounding “Marathi asmita” against the BJP. While Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena (UBT) emerged as the second-largest party in the BMC, the combined Opposition failed to blunt the saffron surge—hampered by splits, three-cornered contests and fractured vote banks.

A senior BJP leader acknowledged that the party’s central leadership had treated Mumbai as a prestige battle. The acrimony traces back to 2019, when the undivided Shiv Sena walked out of its alliance with the BJP post-Assembly polls to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with the Congress and NCP—pushing the BJP into Opposition.

This time, the BJP and Shinde Sena closed ranks, while the Congress contested alongside Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. Early analysis suggests the BJP held on to its traditional North Indian and Gujarati support while making inroads among Marathi voters—benefiting more from Opposition fragmentation than its ally.

As recriminations followed, Ambedkar blamed the Congress for campaign missteps, while state Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged electoral manipulation. Yet the verdict was unambiguous: Mumbai has swung decisively, handing the BJP its most symbolic urban triumph yet.