BMC Elections 2026: Mumbai finally gets its date with democracy

After a delay of almost three years exactly 34 months elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC will finally be held on January 15 2026 with counting on January 16 The previous fiveyear term ended in February 2022Along with Mumbai municipal elections will also be held the same day in Thane Navi Mumbai Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar Panvel Kalyan Dombivli Pune and 20 other municipal corporations across MaharashtraThe State Election Commission SEC announced the schedule on Monday Including the BMCrsquos 227 seats a total of 2869 seats will go to the polls State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare confirmed that the model code of conduct comes into effect immediatelyThe Raj Thackerayled MNS and the Shiv Sena UBT had objected to more than 11 lakh duplicate names in the votersrsquo list and demanded that polls should not be held until corrections were madeGraphicsistockAsked whether the anomalies had been fixed Waghmare said ldquoThe poll schedule has been announced only after addressing issues that political parties raised before the commissionrdquoThe SEC said BMC officials removed several duplicate entries through field verification and software checks ldquoIf there are any remaining duplicates they have been marked with a star This will help identify voters with multiple entries on voting dayrdquo the SEC saidEC had set up a lsquopink boothrsquo at Sir JJ School of Art in 2024 FILE PICNominations will be accepted from December 23 to December 30 with scrutiny on December 31 Withdrawals must be made by January 2 The final list of candidates and symbols will be released on January 3The last BMC elections were held in 2017 Though the term ended in 2022 fresh polls were delayed due to a seat reservation case pending in the Supreme Court The court has now directed that all pending local body elections in Maharashtra including the BMC must be completed before January 31 2026Reacting to the poll announcement Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said ldquoI am sure people will once again vote for development and progressrdquoA kite flying challengeMumbaikars cast their vote during BMC elections in Jogeshwari in 2017 File picNIMESH DAVEThe January 15 polling date could create a hiccup for the BJP as a large section of Mumbairsquos Gujarati community traditionally travels to Surat and Vadodara for Uttarayan the kite flying festival on January 14 Families usually spend two to three days celebrating and with the festival and polling falling backtoback many voters may be out of Mumbai on voting day While older voters may stay back younger and firsttime voters are more likely to prioritise travel raising concerns about turnout among a demographic considered part of the BJPrsquos core support baseDates to rememberVoting DayJanuary 15 ThursdayVoting time730 am to 530 pmCounting DayJanuary 16 FridayCampaigningCampaigning ends 48 hours before polling all political ads prohibited after 530 pm on Jan 14 2026Stats for BMCPolling stations10111Control units11349Ballot units22698Other datesgtgt Nominations December 2330 2025gtgt ScrutinyDecember 31 2025gtgt Withdrawal January 2 2026gtgt Symbol allotment and final listJanuary 3 2026Mobile phonesNot permitted inside polling stationsPink polling stationsTo be staffed entirely by women in areas with high women voter turnout Information available on the Matadhikar appTotal seats2869Including227 seats of BMCRs 15 LVoter AssistancelsquoMatadhikarrsquo mobile app voter details booth info candidate lists Details also on httpsmahasecvoterlistinSource State Election Commission SEC