Control of Mumbai’s civic body has shifted after the Maharashtra local body elections delivered a decisive breakthrough for the Bharatiya Janata Party, ending more than two decades of dominance by Shiv Sena and redrawing the political map of the country’s financial capital. The outcome marks the BJP’s most significant municipal gain in the state and alters the balance in a city long regarded as the Thackeray family’s core stronghold.The BJP secured a clear working majority in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the nation’s wealthiest civic body with an annual budget larger than that of several states. The victory follows an intense contest shaped by the fragmentation of Shiv Sena, internal realignments within Maharashtra politics, and a campaign that focused on urban governance, infrastructure delivery and administrative efficiency. The result hands the BJP control over key civic levers that influence transport, housing approvals, waste management and public health in a metropolis of more than 12 million people.
For Shiv Sena, the loss is historic. The party had run Mumbai’s civic administration uninterrupted for over 25 years, using the corporation as a platform to entrench organisational strength and fund grassroots activity. The split between the Eknath Shinde-led faction aligned with the BJP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led group fractured the Sena vote, allowing the BJP to consolidate gains across several wards. Analysts say the division blunted the Sena’s traditional appeal in working-class neighbourhoods and weakened its ability to mobilise cadre-level support.
The BJP’s campaign capitalised on promises of faster project execution and a pitch that positioned the party as better equipped to manage a complex megacity. Leaders highlighted ongoing metro expansion, coastal road development and digitisation of civic services, arguing that a single-party civic administration would reduce delays caused by coalition bargaining. The party also invested heavily in candidate selection, fielding a mix of seasoned corporators and first-time entrants with professional backgrounds in urban planning and public services.
While the contest was framed largely as a BJP versus Thackeray camp battle, the results offered a measure of encouragement for the Congress. The party improved its vote share in pockets of the city, retained influence in select wards, and avoided the steep erosion that some surveys had predicted. Congress leaders pointed to steady performance in areas with a strong minority presence and argued that the outcome reflected voter appetite for an alternative voice in the civic council amid polarised state politics.
The Congress’s showing, though far from a comeback, keeps it relevant in Mumbai’s municipal politics and provides a base to rebuild alliances ahead of future elections. Party strategists believe that targeted local issues such as affordable housing, water supply reliability and neighbourhood-level health facilities resonated where the organisation maintained on-ground engagement.
For Maharashtra’s broader political landscape, the civic verdict reinforces the BJP’s organisational depth in urban centres and strengthens its partnership with the Shinde-led Sena faction. Control of the municipal corporation offers the BJP visibility through service delivery and patronage networks, advantages that could carry into assembly and parliamentary contests. It also allows the ruling alliance in the state to align municipal priorities more closely with state-level infrastructure planning.
The Thackeray-led Sena faces a period of recalibration. Leaders have acknowledged the scale of the setback and signalled a push to reconnect with traditional supporters while sharpening opposition to the BJP on issues of local identity and governance autonomy. Whether the party can regain cohesion and rebuild its municipal footprint remains an open question, particularly as councillors and local leaders reassess political loyalties.