Mumbai: The long-awaited 2026 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections have delivered a major political shift in Mumbai. Voters handed power to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, ending the 25-year dominance by the then-undivided Shiv Sena in India’s richest civic body.
Since the 2017 BMC elections, the political landscape changed significantly in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena split in 2022 after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, which also led to the birth of two Shiv Senas, one Sena UBT with the party symbol of Mashal and the other Eknath Shinde's Sena with the symbol of Bow and Arrow, however, both have been on the same principles of Balasaheb Thackeray.
Since the split, there has been a battle over who is the real Shiv Sena, although the ECI had designated the Shinde faction as the real Sena and handed the symbol to the party in 2023. The case is also in the Supreme Court, long pending on the same.
However, during the BMC elections in 2026, Mumbaikars appeared to have chosen Uddhav Thackeray’s faction as the real Sena. Although the party lost to the BJP, it gave tough competition, securing a 27.52 per cent vote share and winning 65 seats.
In contrast, the Shinde-led Sena managed only 29 seats, accounting for a 10.48 per cent vote share. Outperforming the Shinde Sena in terms of seats was seen as personal, as it was viewed as an indirect jibe suggesting that Mumbai had chosen Uddhav’s Sena as the real party.
Which Sena will have an upper hand was also the main focus of the BMC elections. In the past four elections, i.e. 2017, 2012, 2007 and 2002, it was seen that the United Shiv Sena individually secured the highest number of seats, irrespective of their alliance with any other party.
In 2017, the undivided Shiv Sena had an upper hand with winning 84 seats, while in the 2012 polls, it had emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. Congress secured the second-highest tally at 52 seats, the BJP won 31 seats, and MNS won 28 seats.
In 2007, the Shiv Sena won 84 seats, and the BJP secured 28 seats, while the Congress also performed well with 75 seats. The 2002 polls gave the alliance a clear edge, with the Shiv Sena winning 97 seats and the BJP 35 seats, while Congress won 61 seats.
Results of 29 Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Results
Though Mumbai proved to be a setback for the Shinde Sena individually, looking at the overall Maharashtra local body elections, the Shinde faction emerged victorious with 397 seats, while the Sena (UBT) won only 153 seats.
In Mumbai, although with the help of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, the Shinde-led Sena emerged victorious, the MNS could not provide strong support to the Sena (UBT) to help it gain momentum.
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