NEW DELHI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Maharashtra civic elections 2026 have marked a decisive shift in the urban political landscape. Held after a delay of nearly four years due to legal challenges and prolonged administrator rule, the elections across 27 municipal corporations and 2,869 seats were widely seen as a test of governance credibility and of existence for some.The verdict was emphatic. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance emerged as the dominant force in urban Maharashtra, projected to win more than 1,800 seats statewide. In Mumbai, the Mahayuti crossed the majority threshold in the 227-member BMC, with the BJP seizing over 90 wards alone in its favour.
With this, there ended the Shiv Sena’s uninterrupted control of the civic body since 1997 and marked the BJP’s first real capture of India’s richest municipal corporation.
Here are the top 10 winners and losers of Maharashtra civic poll elections:
WINNERS
1. Devendra Fadnavis and BJPThe biggest and the obvious winner of the civic polls verdict is Devendra Fadnavis and the Bharatiya Janata Party.The BJP has won over 90 wards of the BMC on its own, compared to 82 in 2017. In key wards such as Mulund West (Ward 103), the BJP defeated the MNS by a margin exceeding 12,000 votes.
Statewide results reinforced this dominance. The BJP led in Pune Municipal Corporation with over 50 of 162 seats, secured a majority in Navi Mumbai (40 of 67), and crossed 80 seats in Nagpur’s 151-member civic body.Axis My India had estimated the BJP support among first-time voters (18–25 age group) at 47 per cent, while 44 per cent of women voters backed the party, influenced by welfare schemes such as Majhi Ladki Bahin and promises of tighter audits of civic spending. With the BMC’s annual budget exceeding Rs 60,000 crore, control over Mumbai’s civic machinery also enhances the BJP’s long-term institutional leverage ahead of the 2029 assembly elections.
2. Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena For the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the civic results offered political validation.Since the 2022 split, the Shinde faction’s central challenge has been legitimacy. The civic verdict, particularly in Mumbai and Thane, strengthened its claim. The party has won/leading on 352 wards and has emerged as the second largest party in Maharashtra civic polls.In Mira-Bhayandar and Ulhasnagar, the Shinde faction recorded near-sweeps, reflecting voter preference for continuity in infrastructure delivery over symbolic politics.3. Mahayuti alliance The BJP–Shiv Sena–NCP Mahayuti alliance once again sealed the victory in Maharashtra.Despite contesting separately in some cities, the alliance demonstrated effective vote transferability in Mumbai, Nashik, and Nagpur. The alliance won or is leadinf in over 1,700 wards across Maharashtra.With a major victory, Mahayuti showed how to converted state-level power into grassroots and civic dominance.4. AIMIMThe All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) made modest but consequential gains in Maharashtra civic elections.The party registered victory/is leading on 94 wards, primarily in Muslim-majority pockets such as Bhendi Bazaar and parts of Kurla and Mumbra. In Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, it crossed 15 seats.While these numbers remain small, AIMIM’s presence seems to have fragmented the opposition vote, particularly hurting Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT). 5. K Annamalai and ‘rasmalai’When the results of the Maharashtra civic elections were being tallied, one of the most unexpected stories to emerge was not about seats won or wards lost. It was about narrative currency — how a Tamil Nadu BJP leader emerged as a winner without contesting.And it all started with the ‘rasmalai’ controversy which begun when while campaigning in Mumbai for the BMC elections, Annamalai had said the city didn’t belong to Maharashtra alone as it was an international city.The remarks triggered a sharp exchange at a joint Shiv Sena (UBT)–MNS rally in Mumbai. MNS chief Raj Thackeray took a swipe at Annamalai, mocking him as ‘rasmalai’ and questioning his authority to comment on Mumbai. He also raised the slogan “hatao lungi, bajao pungi”, a phrase long used derogatorily against South Indians in the city.However, Mahayuti won and BJP MPs and supporters were soon having a field on social media, posting photos of ‘rasmalai’ and mocking Raj Thackeray.
Losers
1. Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena The biggest electoral setback was suffered by Uddhav Thackeray. From over 130 BMC seats in 2017, Sena (UBT) fell to 72 seats. Even traditional strongholds such as Gorai and parts of Mahim witnessed defeats. The loss of control of the BMC is a big blow to Uddhav the Sena has always maintained its control over the civic body.His long-anticipated reunion with estranged cousin Raj Thackeray also failed to make any impact on the ground.2. Congress The Indian National Congress emerged as one of the biggest losers of the BMC and Maharashtra civic elections because the results exposed its near-total erosion in urban politics.In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Congress was reduced to around 21 seats, a sharp fall from its already diminished presence in 2017, when it had crossed 30. Across Maharashtra’s 27 municipal corporations, the party managed roughly 306 wards out of 2,869. In Pune, once a Congress-influenced city, the party was restricted to fewer than five seats out of 162, while in Mumbai it failed to emerge as a serious contender in most wards.In Pune, it was reduced to fewer than five seats. The party which decided to go solo after that Thackeray cousins jouned hands, failed to make any impact in BMC polls where Uddhav’s Sena won 72 seats. It seems that lack of a city-specific agenda, factional infighting and minimal national leadership presence during the campaign compounded the decline.3. Raj Thackeray and MNSFor Raj Thackeray, the civic polls reinforced a long-term downward trajectory.The leader joined hands with his cousin Uddhav to keep the BJP at bay. But the results show how he failed miserably. During the election campaign, he tried to appeal around the idea of the ‘Marathi Manoos’ while invoking Balasaheb Thackeray. This politics of sentiment obviously has deep roots in Maharashtra’s history. He relied on fiery speeches, symbolic gestures and cultural flashpoints to command attention, often targeting migrants, linguistic outsiders, or perceived cultural dilution in Mumbai. Unlike mass welfare or governance-driven politics, his appeal was rooted in ‘Marathi asmita’.This, however, failed to resonate with the voters. The MNS failed to secure major wins, while getting only 11 of 227 wards in Mumbai. At the state level, the party managed to get only 18 of 2869 wards.4: Sharad Pawar Sharad Pawar emerged as one of the biggest losers of the BMC and Maharashtra civic elections as the results exposed the steady erosion of his once-formidable grip over urban and organisational politics.For decades, Pawar was seen as the master strategist of Maharashtra, capable of shaping outcomes even when not in direct power. The civic verdict punctured that perception. The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) failed to make any meaningful impact in the BMC, getting just 1 win in Mumbai wards and remaining marginal in Pune, a city long considered central to Pawar’s political influence.His strategy to join hands with nephew Ajit Pawar for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections also failed as the BJP secured victory in these bodies.Statewide, the faction’s ward tally was 28 of 2869 wards, far below expectations for a party led by a veteran of his stature.Crucially, Pawar’s traditional role as an alliance-builder also lost relevance. Fragmentation within the opposition and the rise of a dominant Mahayuti alliance reduced his ability to act as a power broker. This time, though reports suggested he wanted the Maha Vikas Agadi to fight as a unit, he failed to keep the parties together, especially after the Thackeray cousins joined hands, pushing Congress to go solo.10. Ajit PawarDespite being part of Mahayuti, Ajit Pawar has emerged as one of the losers this election. During the civic poll campaigns, Ajit Pawar repeatedly hit out at his own Mahayuti allies, Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, exposing visible faultlines within the ruling alliance.As election date approached, he finally decided to unite with his uncle Sharad Pawar to contest Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad elections as a united front.His attacks were also unusually sharp for an alliance partner, with Pawar questioning why local bodies under BJP–Shinde control still struggled with water supply, roads and urban planning. In several rallies, he projected his faction as a corrective force within the government rather than a stakeholder in its record. . The civic results however suggest the tactic backfired. Ajit Pawar’s faction underperformed in Pune and Nashik, reinforcing the perception that public sparring with allies during elections diluted his credibility and bargaining power within the Mahayuti rather than strengthening it. Eventually, the Pawar lost their strongholds, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, to BJP with huge margin.
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