Mumbai is set for a historic political shift after Friday’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election results signalled the end of the Shiv Sena’s long dominance over the city’s civic body. For the first time since 1996, the undivided Shiv Sena will not control the Mayor’s office. According to the information available till Friday evening, the Bharatiya Janata Party, along with its ally Shiv Sena, is poised to cross the halfway mark of 114 seats in the 227-member Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), giving the alliance a clear majority and opening the door for the BJP to secure Mumbai’s Mayor’s post for the first time.

The undivided Shiv Sena had ruled the country’s richest municipal corporation for over two decades, seating 12 mayors across five terms between 1996 and 2022. While the BJP’s rise marks a symbolic shift in Mumbai’s political identity, analysts note that the party’s numerical gains remain modest. Despite splitting the Shiv Sena, the BJP has managed to secure only four more seats than its 2017 tally.