Not only in Mumbai, but in majority of municipal corporations in Maharashtra, BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde) bloc seems to have consolidated its position, while the divided Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), that is INDIA bloc suffered serious setbacks, from which INDIA bloc parties need to take lessons for the future elections not only in Maharashtra but elsewhere, especially in the forthcoming state elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry due in April-May 2026.

Polling for 2,869 seats across 893 wards in the 29 civic corporations in Maharashtra was held on January 15. A total of 15,931 candidates contested these elections, which saw participation from 3.48 crore eligible voters across the state. These are the first civic body elections in Maharashtra since 2017.The trend of the result shows that BJP led Mahayuti in Maharashtra has firmly established its political grip in the urban areas of the state, where INDIA block allies are losing fast their support base.

For BMC elections, Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)joined hands and they contested elections along with NCP (SP) as a separate group. Congress contested separately. In Pune, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and NCP (SP) also joined hands to contest against their respective alliance Mahayuti and MVA. In fact, INDIA bloc parties were divided across the state, which resulted in their humiliating loss.

Shiv Sena had stronghold in the BMC, but now the election result shows that the Thackeray brothers, despite being united, lost control of the India’s richest civic body. The BMC results have put an end to the soap opera of Mumbai politics, said Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Milind Deora, adding, “The golden era for India’s commercial & cultural hub is just beginning.”

The election results across Maharashtra, especially in BMC has boosted morale of the BJP across the country. BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "You all have witnessed that today BJP and alliance parties - Mahayuti - has registered a great victory in BMC polls. This shows that BJP and NDA's acceptance is ever increasing under the leadership of PM Modi. Recently, we won majority for the first time in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala Municipal Corporation polls. Today, BJP-NDA-Mahayuti have got unprecedented victory in BMC elections, which is arguably Asia's biggest municipal corporation. The BJP is thankful to the people of Maharashtra for this victory."

Commenting on the Maharashtra civic bodies elections Union Minister and RPI (A) leader Ramdas Athawale said that Uddhav Thackeray’s long tenure in Mumbai was largely due to his alliances with the BJP and RPI(A). He said, “As far as Mumbai is concerned, Uddhav Thackeray was in power for 25-30 years. He was in power because he was in an alliance with the BJP. Today, the BJP is the number one party in the country."

As per the election result trend around 4 PM, the BJP led Mahayuti is set to win at least 22 civic body polls out of 29, including Mumbai. Nevertheless, the Mahayuti leaders are claiming that the will win 28 municipal corporations.

In Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune, a stronghold of Pawars, the BJP has taken lead, giving a jolt to the NCP. The saffron party is also leading in Nagpur, Thane, Pune, and Vasai-Virar corporations. Congress has taken a lead in Kolhapur.

The trend of election result shows that BJP clearly emerges as top political party in urban areas of Maharashtra, which shows the party’s growing clout in the cities as against the opposition political parties such as the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), which were part of the MVA just before they parted ways to contest the civic body elections in the state. It highlights Mahayuti’s expanding dominance over the divided India bloc and signals a significant reshaping of Maharashtra’s political landscape.

INDIA bloc allies, especially the Congress has a lesson to learn from the election results in Maharashtra, and should take note of its setbacks which was chiefly due to the loss of unity among its alliance partners as also loss of organizational base of the GoP. (IPA Service)