Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Election 2026: Twenty-nine municipal corporations across Maharashtra will head to polls on Thursday following a high-octane poll campaign. The BJP and Shiv Sena are contesting as allies while the NCP has opted to go solo in the civic body polls. The spotlight remains firmly on Mumbai where municipal corporation polls were last held in 2017.
The city will see the BJP-led Mahayuti face off against the united Thackeray front for control of the richest civic body in the country.
A total of 3.48 crore eligible voters will decide the fate of 15,931 candidates — including 1,700 in Mumbai and 1,166 in Pune. Votes will be counted on January 16.
Polling date and time
Voting will commence at 7.30 am and conclude by 5.30 pm on January 15. Representatives will be elected for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in various parts of the state — including Mumbai and its surrounding areas as well as Pune. The counting of votes will commence hours later on Friday morning.
Public holiday on January 15
The Maharashtra government has declared a public holiday on January 15 for areas falling under the 29 poll-bound municipal corporations. Employers must allow employees at least two to three hours to vote and action will be taken against establishments that do not grant the holiday or voting time.
“The public holiday will apply across Mumbai, including the city and the eastern and western suburbs. Government and semi-government offices, public sector units, banks and other establishments will remain closed on that day. The government order also applies to voters registered in Mumbai but working outside the city, allowing them to vote,” an official release said.
The stock markets will also remain closed on Thursday on account of the Maharashtra civic polls. Both the BSE and NSE have confirmed that trading in the equity segment, derivatives, commodity and electronic gold receipts would remain closed.
Intense political upheaval
The Maharashtra civic body polls have trigged fresh defections and forged several unlikely alliances over the past few months. MNS leader Raj Thackeray reunited with his long-estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the polls after nearly 20 years in a bid to consolidate Marathi votes. The rival factions of NCP (one on either side of the state government) are also contesting Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad as allies under a joint manifesto. Even the BJP and Congress had made a short-lived coalition attempt during the recently concluded Ambernath Municipal Council elections to keep the Shiv Sena out of power.