BMC elections 2026: Voter turnout at 6.98 per cent till 9.30 am

Mumbai witnessed a measured start to polling on Thursday as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC elections 2026 got underway with voter turnout recorded at 698 per cent till 930 am according to the civic bodyA total of 736996 voters cast their ballots within the first two hours of polling according to data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Mumbai has an electorate of approximately 103 crore votersSuburbs outperform island city in early turnoutOverall the suburbs recorded a significantly higher voter turnout than the island city areas spanning Colaba to Dadar and MatungandashWadala Voters in Borivali and Kandivali in particular turned out in large numbers during the early hours of pollingBorivali East ward records highest turnoutThe highest turnout was reported from electoral ward number 18 in Borivali East part of the RCentral ward where 1157 per cent of votersmdash5316 individualsmdashhad cast their votes by 930 am This was followed by ward 114 with a turnout of 11 per cent ward 109 at 1088 per cent electoral ward 29 at 1063 per cent ward 9 at 105 per cent and ward 11 at 1014 per cent all located in the western suburbsKurla region among lowest turnout areasIn contrast the Kurla region corresponding to the L ward recorded some of the lowest turnout figures Electoral wards numbered 159 to 164 covering areas of Kurla and Chandivali reported voter turnout of less than 3 per centMalad and Madh see poor voter participationLow turnout was also observed in parts of Malad and Madh with ward number 50 recording just 175 per cent turnout followed by ward 56 at 268 per cent and ward 52 at 305 per centColaba records low turnout in South MumbaiSouth Mumbairsquos Colaba area corresponding to ward 227 also remained among the lowestperforming wards with a turnout of 220 per cent translating to 1011 votes cast till 930 amSenior citizens and firsttime voters drive early turnoutPolling began at 730 am across the city with voters gradually arriving at polling booths in various wards Early turnout was largely driven by senior citizens morning walkers and firsttime voters particularly in residential neighbourhoodsMumbai in focus as statewide civic polls beginVoting 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 details across MaharashtraPolling 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 candidatesHighstakes BMC election after nineyear gapIn the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC whose annual budget is over Rs 74400 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 electionsVote counting scheduled for January 16Except for Mumbai the other urban bodies have multimember wards Vote count will take place on January 16First BMC polls since Shiv Sena splitThese 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 19972022Thackeray cousins reunite ahead of crucial civic pollsIn 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 PimpriChinchwadCongress seeks to regain ground in MumbaiThe 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 capitalCivic polls after prolonged delay across stateElections 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 India