Mumbai BMC elections 2026: What’s open and closed on polling day- check all details | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: Polling for India’s richest municipal corporation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), began early Thursday morning, with hundreds of voters queuing to exercise their franchise and elect 277 new ward members after a gap of nearly eight years. The last BMC election was held in February 2017, and the posts of mayor and deputy mayor are currently vacant.High voter turnout expectedVoting started at 7.30 am, with citizens standing in line at their respective polling booths. A total of 1,700 candidates are contesting the Mumbai polls.The Thackeray family, including former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, visited polling booth 44 at Kala Nagar, Sahvas Society, Bandra East to cast their votes. Several Bollywood celebrities are also expected to vote, with Akshay Kumar arriving at his assigned booth early in the morning.Voter demographicsIn Mumbai, 1,03,44,315 citizens are eligible to vote, including 55,16,707 men, 48,26,509 women, and 1,099 categorized as other voters.Counting centres and security measuresAs per the release, the corporation has finalised counting centres for all 227 wards. Each centre has been equipped with secure strong rooms for custody of election materials, including EVMs, and arrangements have been made to ensure transparency during the counting process.Civic officials said polling staff reported in large numbers since Wednesday morning, and all required materials, including voter lists, seals, indelible ink, and official documents, were handed over to them after due verification.More than 25,000 police personnel will be deployed across Mumbai to oversee the elections and vote counting. A total of 10,231 polling stations have been set up across the city, with 64,375 officers and staff deployed for duty.Voter participation initiativesThe BMC said several measures have been taken to encourage voter participation, including decoration of polling stations, setting up of pink booths, selfie points, and media facilitation centres, along with special assistance for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.Adequate police deployment has been made to maintain law and order on polling day, the civic body said.Declares public holiday for polling dayTo ensure maximum participation, the Maharashtra government declared January 15 a public holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, applicable to all government and semi-government offices, corporations, and banks in the jurisdiction of the 29 corporations going to the polls.Technology for efficient election managementIn a first-of-its-kind initiative, the civic body has introduced a geo-fencing and live vehicle tracking system to monitor the movement of vehicles deployed for election duty.As per a second BMC release, as many as 2,865 vehicles—including 1,023 buses from civic undertaking BEST, 101 from the state transport corporation, 1,160 from private owners, and 581 taxis—are being tracked through a central control room at the civic headquarters in south Mumbai to ensure timely and secure transportation of polling staff and election materials.Political battle for mumbaiThe BJP-led Mahayuti is locked in a keen battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins—Raj and Uddhav—heading MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT), respectively, for control of the cash-rich BMC, which has an annual budget of more than Rs 74,000 crore. The NCP, its rival NCP (SP), Congress, and Samajwadi Party, among others, are also in the fray.Civic bodies going to pollsThe prominent civic bodies going to polls include Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Panvel, Nashik, Malegaon, Ahilyanagar, Jalgaon, Dhule, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ichalkaranji, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded-Waghala, Parbhani, Jalna, Latur, Amravati, Akola, Nagpur, and Chandrapur.(With agency Inputs)
