BJP Wins Mumbai Civic Polls For First Time, Ends Thackeray Family’s 28-Year Control

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the first time, ending the Thackeray family’s 28-year dominance over Mumbai’s powerful civic body.

In the 2026 BMC elections, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 89 of the total 227 wards, improving its tally from 82 seats in the 2017 polls.

Its ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, secured 29 seats. Together, the BJP–Shiv Sena alliance won 118 seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 114.

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The result marks a major political shift in Maharashtra and strengthens Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s position in state politics.

The victory also brings an end to decades of control by the undivided Shiv Sena, once led by the Thackeray family, over Asia’s richest civic body.

The opposition alliance of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena, MNS, and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) managed to win 72 seats.

The Congress, which contested the elections on its own, won 24 wards. AIMIM emerged as a surprise performer, securing eight seats in the Mumbai civic polls.

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Despite inheriting much of the old Shiv Sena’s organisational structure, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction struggled to retain the party’s traditional stronghold in Mumbai, managing only 29 seats.

Reacting to the results, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister said the BMC verdict reflected a public mandate for “development” and against “corruption.”

He added that the outcome was an endorsement of the BJP-led Mahayuti government’s performance over the last three-and-a-half years.