After Maharashtra sweep, BJP now setting sight on Mumbai with BMC polls

Mumbai: After the Maha Yuti-NDA sweep in Maharashtra, the BJP is now setting its sight on the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.

For late Balasaheb Thackeray and even the undivided Shiv Sena BMC--the richest and one of the biggest civic bodies of India--was very important as it dominated the politics of the financial capital of India.

The undivided Shiv Sena has been continuously controlling the BMC for nearly quarter of a century.

The last five-year term of the BMC - elected in 2017 ended on 7 March, 2022 - and there is no General Body - the BMC’s Municipal Commissioner acts as an state government-appointed Administrator.

The BMC elections could not be held because of the Covid-19 pandemic and cases in the Supreme Court about OBC seats and an earlier delimitation exercise.

The BMC has been divided into seven zones which have 3 to 5 wards each. In total, Mumbai has been divided into 24 administrative wards which are further divided into 227 civic electoral wards or constituencies.

The elections to BMC are one of the most keenly-contested civic body polls of India.

“The BMC is the richest civic body of India. The Annual Budget of the BMC is over Rs 50,000 crore. The Fixed Deposits of the BMC stands at a whopping around Rs 80,000 crore. The BMC looks after Mumbai, the ‘Urbs Prima in Indis’. It has slums and high-rises. The politics here is all together different and vibrant,” political observers said.

After the 2017 BMC polls, the Shiv Sena leads the tally with 84, followed by BJP (82), Congress (31), NCP (9), MNS (7) and others (14).

In the 2012 polls, Shiv Sena won 75 seats followed by BJP (31), Congress (52), NCP (7), MNS (27), SP (9) and others (32).

Since the last 25 years, Sena-BJP alliance has been constantly in power in Mumbai.

"The split in the Shiv Sena in June-July 2022 leading to Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and the division in NCP in June-July 2023 leading to NCP led by Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar things have changed. After his many former corporators of undivided Shiv Sena had supported Shinde,” political observers said, adding that the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls had changed the situation.

Mumbai, which has two districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban, has six Lok Sabha seats and 36 Vidhan Sabha seats.

In the Assembly polls, BJP-led MahaYuti got a stronghold over Mumbai, winning 22 of the 36 seats.

For Maha Yuti, the BJP won 15 seats, Shiv Sena six and NCP one.

As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi is concerned, Shiv Sena (UBT) won 10 seats and the Congress three. Samajwadi Party (SP) secured one win.

Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here

Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here

Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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