Maharashtra is set to hold elections to 29 municipal corporations on January 15, with the counting of votes scheduled for January 16. The polls will decide the future of 2,869 corporator seats across the state. According to the State Election Commission, nearly 39,000 polling booths have been arranged to ensure smooth voting. Security and administrative preparations have been completed ahead of the civic elections.
The 29 municipal corporations going to the polls include the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Thane and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar City, Mira Bhayandar, Panvel, Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar), Kolhapur, Sangli-Mirajpur-Kupwad, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Jalgaon, Dhule, Ichalkaranji, Chandrapur, Nanded-Waghala, Latur, Parbhani, Malegaon, Bhiwandi-Nizampur and Jalna.
Ulhasnagar is being closely watched in this round of elections. The municipal corporation has a total of 78 seats. The last civic polls in Ulhasnagar were held in 2017, when the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the largest party with 32 seats.
What happened in Ulhasnagar in the 2017 polls?
In Ulhasnagar, polling took place across 78 seats in 2017. Below is the part-wise seats tally.
| Shiv Sena | NCP | BJP | Congress | Independent/Others |
| 25 | 4 | 32 | 1 | 16 |
Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation sees complex alliances
Unlike previous elections, traditional alliances have fractured in several municipal corporations across Maharashtra. Parties that are officially allies are struggling to agree on seat-sharing arrangements, leading some to field their own candidates against partners.
Known as Maharashtra’s only Assembly constituency with a majority of Sindhi voters, Ulhasnagar is witnessing a highly complex political battle this time.
In the current scenario, the Eknath Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena has joined hands with Omi Kalani and the Sai Party to contest the elections together. Meanwhile, Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are fighting as a separate alliance.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, has chosen to contest the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation elections independently, without forming any alliances.
