BMC elections 2026: BJP to contest on 140 seats, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena on 87, say sources
BMC elections 2026: As per the formula derived by the Mahayuti partners, the saffron party will contest on 140 seats while the Shinde Sena will fight on 87 seats, said sources on Friday.
Following days of deliberations and discussions, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena have finalised the seat-sharing pact for the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). As per the formula derived by the Mahayuti partners, the saffron party will contest on 140 seats while the Shinde Sena will fight on 87 seats, said sources on Friday.
The polling for the BMC will take place on January 15, along with all other municipal corporations in the state. The counting of votes will take place on January 16.
The development comes days after the marathon meetings that were held by the two alliance partners amid reports of discontent between them. However, the BJP and the Shinde Sena had dismissed such reports, with sources saying that they have already finalised the seat-sharing arrangement for 200 seats and discussions were underway for the remaining 27.
Fadnavis backs Shinde Sena
Amid reports of discontent, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier backed the Shiv Sena and directed BJP leaders to avoid openly attacking Shinde's party. While briefing the reporters on Friday, the chief minister once again asserted that the BJP and Shiv Sena are united and they don't need formally announce an alliance.
"The BJP and Shiv Sena are united. Everything is going on smoothly. We do not need to formally announce an alliance," he said earlier in the day.
Mahayuti's dominance in municipal council, nagar panchayat elections
The Mahayuti, which also consists Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had dominated the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections in Maharashtra. The polling for them was held on two phases, December 2 and December 20, and the results were declared by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC).
The BJP won 117 posts of municipal presidents, followed by Shiv Sena which won 53. The NCP won 37 posts, the Congress 28, Shiv Sena (UBT) nine and NCP (SP) seven. Five seats were won by Independents and 28 by unrecognised registered parties, as per the SEC.