Mumbai: As Maharashtra goes to the polls on Thursday for elections to 29 municipal corporations, all eyes are on Mumbai, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is locked in a fierce contest with the united Thackeray front for control of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis predicted that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray would emerge as the “biggest loser” from his alliance with cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray. He also played down the coming together of the rival Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, describing it as a “localised phenomenon”.

Fadnavis expressed displeasure over Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar allegedly breaking the alliance’s informal understanding that partners would not criticise one another publicly.

The chief minister spearheaded the Mahayuti’s campaign, criss-crossing the state to canvass for candidates of the ruling alliance, which comprises the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The NCP, the third partner in the Mahayuti, was strategically kept out of the Mumbai campaign to attract “non-Hindu” voters, political observers said.

This election marks the Shiv Sena’s first BMC contest since the party split in 2022, when Eknath Shinde broke away with a majority of its legislators and retained the party’s name and symbol. The undivided Shiv Sena had controlled India’s richest civic body for 25 years.

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Polling for 2,869 seats across 893 wards will take place from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm on January 15. Around 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates, including 1,700 in Mumbai and 1,166 in Pune. Votes will be counted on January 16.

More than 25,000 police personnel, including senior officers, will be deployed across Mumbai to oversee polling and counting. Unlike the other 28 urban bodies, which have multi-member wards, Mumbai alone has single-member wards.

Reunion after two decades

In a dramatic political turn ahead of the polls, estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray reunited after two decades in a bid to consolidate Marathi votes. Meanwhile, rival NCP factions forged a local alliance in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The Congress has sought to reassert itself in Mumbai by stepping out of the shadow of its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies — Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP). In the state capital, it has allied with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, while choosing to contest independently in Nagpur.

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The elections are being held after a gap of more than six years, with the terms of these civic bodies having ended between 2020 and 2023. Nine of the 29 corporations fall within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India’s most urbanised belt. Other key battlegrounds include Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Thane, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Fadnavis, along with his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, campaigned extensively across the state. Uddhav and Raj Thackeray focused their efforts on Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where Uddhav addressed a rally.

Several national leaders also joined the campaign trail, including Telangana minister Mohammad Azharuddin, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai.

Populist promises targeting women voters dominated the manifestos. The Mahayuti promised a 50 per cent concession for women on BEST bus fares, while the Thackeray cousins pledged a ₹1,500 monthly allowance for women domestic workers and a property tax waiver for homes up to 700 sq ft. The Congress manifesto, in contrast, focused on tackling Mumbai’s pollution, upgrading the BEST fleet and improving the city’s financial health.

The race for the mayor’s post became a flashpoint, with the BJP claiming a Sena (UBT) victory could result in a Muslim mayor — an allegation rejected by Uddhav Thackeray’s party, which assured voters of a Marathi mayor. Fadnavis, too, declared that the mayor would be “Hindu and Marathi”.

In Mumbai’s 227 wards, the BJP is contesting 137 seats and the Shiv Sena 90, while the NCP is fighting separately on 94 seats. Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded 163 candidates, the MNS 52, the Congress 143 and the VBA 46. Across the rest of Maharashtra, the Congress has fielded 1,263 candidates.

After campaigning ended on Tuesday, Fadnavis reiterated that Raj Thackeray would be the “biggest loser” of the alliance with Uddhav Thackeray. He again dismissed the NCP tie-up in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, saying the BJP would react only if both factions decided to join hands after the polls — something he said was unlikely.

He also remarked that the Thackerays appeared to lack full commitment to the campaign and were “unwilling to stake their political prestige”. While asserting that the BJP would remain the central force in Maharashtra politics, Fadnavis added that electoral setbacks do not spell the end for any party or leader, noting that “those who strive to make a comeback can still find success.”