Mumbai: Voting for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections 2026 concluded on Thursday across all 227 wards in Mumbai, with multiple exit polls predicting a clear victory for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in the country’s richest civic body.

According to the JVC exit poll, the Mahayuti alliance is projected to win 138 seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark. The Uddhav Thackeray–Raj Thackeray alliance is expected to secure 59 seats, while the Congress could win 23 seats. Other parties are projected to share the remaining seven seats.

The Sakal exit poll also places the Mahayuti alliance ahead, projecting 119 seats in the 227-member BMC. The Shiv Sena (UBT)-led alliance is expected to put up a strong fight with 75 seats, while Congress may secure around 20 seats. Smaller parties and independents are projected to win 14 seats.

The Axis My India exit poll estimates the BJP-led alliance at 42 per cent vote share, followed by the Shiv Sena (UBT)-led alliance at 32 per cent. Congress and other parties are projected to receive around 13 per cent vote share each.

Polling details and voter statistics

Polling for the BMC election began at 7.30 am and concluded at 5.30 pm, with tight security arrangements in place. A public holiday was declared in municipal areas to encourage voter participation.

Mumbai recorded a massive electoral exercise, with 1,729 candidates contesting from 227 wards. The city has 1,03,44,315 eligible voters, including 55,16,707 men, 48,26,509 women, and 1,077 voters from other gender categories, officials said.

The counting of votes for the BMC election 2026 will begin at 10 am on Friday, January 16, with the BMC election results expected by the end of the day.

The last BMC elections were held in 2017, and the civic body’s elected term ended on March 7, 2022. Since then, the Mumbai civic administration has been run by an administrator, making this election politically significant.