Polling Today For 29 Municipal Corporations Across Maharashtra

Voting in Maharashtra municipal elections will start at 7:30 am on Thursday and will continue till 5:30 pm. Counting of votes will take place on January 16. A total of 3.48 crore eligible voters will decide the fate of 15,931 candidates – including 1,700 in Mumbai and 1,166 in Pune.

The state government has declared January 15 a public holiday in the 29 poll-bound municipal areas to facilitate voting. According to the State Election Commission, January 15 will be a public holiday for government offices, semi-government offices, corporations and boards, public sector undertakings, banks, and central government offices located within the BMC limits. Private offices may make decisions depending on internal policy, although many are expected to remain closed.

The state government has also declared a four-day dry period in 29 civic body areas, banning alcohol sales and consumption between January 13 and January 16.

The major cities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), where the polls will be held, include Mumbai (BMC), Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Mira-Bhayandar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Panvel and Vasai-Virar. Other major cities are Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Akola and Latur.

While, in Mumbai, voting will be held with the traditional one-ward-one-vote model, other 28 corporations will utilize a multi-member ward system (3 or 4 members per ward). Voters in these cities must cast multiple votes on the EVM for different candidates within their ward.

However, all eyes will be on Mumbai, the BJP has been trying desperately to end the Thackeray family’s hold on the city. Elections will be held for a total of 227 seats of Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), where a figure of 114 is required for majority.

The main contest in Mumbai is believed to be between Mahayuti (BJP + Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena) and the alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. NCP and Congress may try to hold on to certain specific areas in the state.

MNS leader Raj Thackeray has reunited with his long-estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the polls after nearly 20 years in a bid to consolidate Marathi votes

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut issued a passionate appeal to Mumbaikars to vote for Thackeray cousins. His post, which quickly went viral, featured the slogan: “All Marathi people have decided… If we are together, we are safe! And Thackeray is the best.”

Raut urged voters to stand firmly behind the combined strength of the Thackeray cousins to protect the city’s regional interests and Marathi identity.

Responding to the Thackeray camp’s focus on regional pride, the BJP Minister Nitesh Rane took to social media to strike a contrasting note, posting: “Hindus have decided, I Love Mahadev…” His message is seen as a strategic move to consolidate the Hindu vote bank.