BMC Elections 2026 Begin: Seat-Sharing, Voting Arrangements And Counting Process Explained

Polling for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Election 2026 will be held on Thursday, January 15, across all 227 civic wards in the city, marking one of the most closely watched municipal contests in the country. The election will determine the composition of India’s richest civic body, which plays a critical role in Mumbai’s infrastructure, health, education and urban governance.

Voters across Mumbai’s 24 administrative wards will cast their ballots to elect corporators to the BMC. Polling arrangements have been made across the city, with the civic administration focusing on smooth conduct, crowd management and security.

The counting of votes is scheduled for Friday, January 16, and will take place at 23 designated counting centres spread across Mumbai. Each centre will function under the supervision of an appointed Election Returning Officer.

According to the BMC, all counting centres will have:

• Dedicated strong rooms for storing election material

• CCTV surveillance

• Adequate police deployment to ensure security and transparency

• Only authorised candidates’ representatives, election staff and designated officials will be permitted entry, and access will be strictly regulated as per official schedules.

The BMC administration has confirmed that all counting centres and strong rooms have received the necessary clearances from the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Mumbai Police. Separate strong rooms and counting facilities have been finalised for each Returning Officer’s office to ensure an orderly and tamper-proof process.

Counting centres have been established zone-wise, covering all administrative wards, including R North, R Central, R South, P North, P East, P South, K West, K East, H East, H West, T, S, N, M East, M West, L, F North, F South, G North, G South, D, C, B, A and E.

The venues include municipal schools, sports complexes, colleges, auditoriums, stadiums and administrative buildings located in areas such as Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon, Andheri, Santacruz, Mulund, Ghatkopar, Chembur, Kurla, Sion, Dadar, Worli, Girgaum and Byculla. Each centre has been assigned specific ward numbers and a designated Returning Officer.

The civic body has reiterated that all counting venues will remain under round-the-clock surveillance, with CCTV coverage and police presence to maintain law and order. Entry will be restricted to authorised personnel only.

Seat sharing and political battle lines

The BMC election is being fought amid complex alliance dynamics in Maharashtra politics:

The ruling Mahayuti of BJP and Shiv Sena will be contesting the election with a seat-sharing arrangement aimed at consolidating votes across wards. BJP will be contesting in 137 Seats and Shiv Sena at 90 seats.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, have decided to jointly contest on the seats.

The Congress has so far announced 143 candidates in Mumbai. With the VBA contesting 46 seats and six seats allotted to other allies, including Left parties and the Rashtriya Samaj Party, the Congress-led alliance has put up candidates in 195 seats.