BMC elections 2026: Vote counting to begin at 10 am on January 16

The counting of votes for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC elections will start at 10 am on Friday civic commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said on Thursday reported news agency PTIVoting was underway on Thursday for the BMC and 28 other municipal corporations in MaharashtraGagrani told reporters that due to the short gap between polling and counting the counting of votes for all civic wards will start at 10 am on FridayThis could result in the declaration of results later than usualIt may take an hour longer than usual Gagrani said reported PTIVoting begins for highstakes civic polls in MaharashtraMeanwhile voting in 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra began on Thursday morning with spotlight on Mumbai where the BJPled Mahayuti alliance is locked in an intense battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins for control of Indias largest and richest civic bodyPolling for 2869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 730 am and will conclude at 530 pm A total of 348 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15931 candidatesIn the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC whose annual budget is over Rs 74 400 crore 1700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after nine years after a fouryear delay More than 25000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to oversee electionsExcept for Mumbai the other urban bodies have multimember wards Vote count will take place on January 16These are the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena when Eknath Shinde now Deputy Chief Minister broke away with a majority of the partys MLAs and allied with the BJP to become the chief ministerThe undivided Shiv Sena held sway over Indias richest civic body for 25 years 19972022In a significant political turn of events ahead of the elections estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray who head Shiv Sena UBT and MNS respectively reunited last month after two decades in their bid to consolidate Marathi votes even as rival NCP factions forged a local alliance in Pune and PimpriChinchwadThe Congress once a formidable political force in Maharashtra has asserted its presence in Mumbai by stepping out of the shadow of its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Shiv Sena UBT and NCP SPThe grand old party has joined hands with Prakash Ambedkars Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBA and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh in the state capitalElections to the 29 municipal corporations are being held after a gap of several years with terms of most of them having ended between 2020 and 2023 Of these nine fall in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR the most urbanised belt in IndiaWith inputs from PTI