Mumbai: About 50% of voters took part in Thursday’s high-stakes BMC elections, which were held after a delay of four years. According to BMC sources, a turnout of 46% was recorded in 21 of the 26 administrative wards. At the time of going to press, final calculations for the remaining 5 wards were still underway. The delay was attributed to a late surge of voters before the 5 pm closing time. Till 3.30 pm, turnout stood at 41.08%, causing anxiety within the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance. Subsequently, activists of Sangh Parivar and Shiv Sena (Shinde) launched a massive voter mobilisation drive.
About Mumbai BMC Elections 2026
Voting, which started at 7.30 am, saw a large number of people, especially from the middle class, queuing up at almost all polling booths across the city. However, many failed to find their names on the voters’ list, forcing them to return home without casting their votes. The State Election Commission came in for sharp criticism over the widespread confusion. Many voters, including Hari Rao from Ward No. 152 in Chembur, faced a tough time at the General Education School booth. There was no proper lighting facility for staff to read the voters’ lists. Unlike previous polls, most parties failed to distribute voter slips.
Changes in booths further compounded the problem. The Commission’s website remained non-functional for a considerable period in the morning, according to C. Balasubramanian and other voters. Voter turnout remained sluggish till the afternoon but gathered pace later. Up to 11.30 am, it was only 17%. By 3.30 pm, it reached 41%. A total of 1,700 candidates were in the fray for 227 BMC wards on Thursday. As many as 10,231 polling booths were set up across the city, including government premises, private establishments and cooperative housing societies. In the first half of the day, electronic voting machines (EVMs) in areas such as Chiwda Gully in Lalbaug, Balmohan Vidyamandir in Dadar and Gautam Nagar in Govandi developed technical glitches, briefly halting voting.
“The issues were immediately rectified by technical staff present at the polling stations, and voting resumed. There were no major technical or administrative problems in the polling process in Mumbai,” civic officials said. However, voters alleged that EVMs remained nonoperational for up to 30 minutes in some locations. Sudhir Salvi, secretary of the Lalbaug Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal, said, “I arrived at the polling booth at 7.15 am, hoping to cast the first vote at 7.30 am. However, the EVM at Chiwda Gully became functional only at 7.58 am, and I cast my vote at 7.59 am.”
Several voters across Mumbai faced difficulties casting their ballots after failing to locate their names at polling booths, citing sudden booth changes and discrepancies in physical electoral rolls. Election staff and party functionaries also struggled with poorly printed voter lists that made verification cumbersome. Many voters said their longstanding polling booths had been changed or merged without prior notice, forcing them to move from one help desk to another. In some cases, residents of the same building were assigned different polling stations located far apart. First-time voters were particularly disappointed when they could not find their names on any voter lists.
Those who had enrolled in recent months were also not included. Some voters complained that the BMC website was unhelpful in tracing their names. In Bhandup Assembly Ward 109, tension prevailed at a polling station after Manisha Tupe, leader of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), staged a protest. She alleged that 40 to 50 eligible voters were forced to return home after failing to find their names on the voter list. Tensions also flared outside polling booths in Gavand Compound, Bhandup, where workers of the Shinde Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) clashed following allegations of voter intimidation. Similar scenes were reported outside the Adarsh polling centre in Bhandup.
In Vikhroli’s Kannamwar Nagar 2, clashes erupted on the night of January 14 over alleged distribution of money. Workers of Shiv Sena (UBT) accused candidates from the Shinde Sena of distributing cash. Following the incident, police stepped up security, and voting on Thursday morning took place under tight police bandobast. Areas such as Govandi and Mankhurd witnessed enhanced police security and patrolling at regular intervals to prevent clashes between rival groups.
“There was a heated situation in Deonar due to overcrowding at a polling booth. However, it was brought under control soon,” police personnel said. Meanwhile, the MNS and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction in Ward 143 (Maharashtra Nagar, Mankhurd) alleged that NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Nawab Malik was present in the ward on Wednesday night, influencing voters in violation of the ‘silence period’ norms. The BMC set up a total of 23 ‘pink booths’ to attract women voters. Several booths featured theme-based decorations and selfie points with flowers, flamingoes and other designs.
Facilities such as drinking water, toilets and wheelchair ramps were provided, with priority given to senior citizens and voters with disabilities. Heavy police deployment was seen inside and outside polling stations, along with staff from the BMC and the Election Commission. Parking was prohibited within a 100- metre radius of polling stations. Voter turnout in BMC elections has historically remained below the 50 per cent mark. However, in 2017, following special efforts and extensive voter awareness campaigns by the State Election Commission, Mumbai recorded its highest participation in the last five election cycles, with turnout rising to 55.28 per cent.
The counting of votes will take place on Friday, January 16, and the process will commence at 10 am at all 23 counting centres. The postal ballot boxes, along with the EVMs, will be taken out of the Strong Room only then. The BMC has informed all 23 Returning Officers (ROs) that candidates or their officially authorised representatives must remain present at the specified time. Ward-wise segregation of postal ballots will be carried out simultaneously. A total of 2,299 officers have been appointed for the counting exercise.
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