‘Forced’ market holiday during Mumbai polls? Zerodha founder questions decision

Mumbai: The Indian stock market is closed for trading today, 15 January 2026, following a public holiday declared by the Maharashtra government due to municipal corporation elections in Mumbai and several other local jurisdictions.

Both of India’s major stock exchanges — the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) — are based in Mumbai. As a result, they have announced a trading holiday for today. Trading is scheduled to resume tomorrow, Friday, 16 January.

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The holiday was not part of the original 2026 stock market calendar. It was added earlier this week, with BSE and NSE issuing a circular confirming that Thursday would be a holiday in the equity and equity derivatives segments in light of the municipal elections.

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However, the decision has sparked criticism from Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath, who questioned the necessity of what he called a “forced market holiday.” Kamath argued that with modern trading systems, market operations can continue even when elections are held in one state, suggesting that investors could have been allowed to trade as usual.